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Akutan planning geothermal program Aleutian island is an active volcano and home to major seafood plant, four-well program would delineate geothermal resources Eric Lidji For Petroleum News
The city of Akutan is planning a four well geothermal exploration program this summer.
The drilling and testing program is expected to from June through September.
The Aleutian Island city of Akutan is best known for being home to the largest seafood production facility in North America, a plant owned by Trident Seafood Corp.
Trident is not only the largest employer, but also the largest energy user on the island. As of 2007, the company produced its own electricity using large diesel generators, but apparently the generators are aging and the company has approached Akutan Electric Co. about potentially buying municipal power if it becomes available in the future.
Trident uses around 4.1 megawatts on average, peaking between 7 and 8 MW.
The municipal utility currently produces around 79 kilowatts on average.
A successful geothermal operation could also provide power for the Eastern Aleutians.
Akutan Island, like many of the islands in the Aleutians, is an active volcano, making it highly prone to successful geothermal development. The proposed exploration drilling would take place in Hot Springs Bay Valley, located due west of the coastal village.
Akutan Village Corp. owns the surface rights to the proposed drill sites and Aleut Regional Corp. owns the subsurface rights. The corporations signed agreements with the city for control of the property for geothermal development.
Wells to delineate resource The wells will be drilled to measure temperature gradients in the valley. If the wells hit liquid, the city will run flow tests and take fluid samples for chemistry analyses.
The first well, called Well No. 1, would be at the top of the valley, near what is believed to be the “upwelling zone” for the geothermal fluid. It would be drilled to 3,500 feet.
Well No. 2 would be near the hot springs, by what is believed to be “the center of the outflow zone, where two different tabular aquifers could be penetrated at relatively shallow depths.” The second well would be shallower, drilled to a depth of 1,500 feet.
Well No. 3 and Well No. 4 “appear to be located in the outflow zone and would provide constraints on the geometry, temperature variations, and flow patterns of the outflow.”
Based on the results of the drilling program, Akutan may decide to drill more wells.
The wells are considered “slim” holes, about three inches in diameter.
Exploration goes back decades Geothermal exploration at Akutan dates to a program in the 1980s funded by the state and the U.S. Department of Energy. Between 1992 and 2008, private parties signed an exploration agreement, but never drilled. The city took over the program in 2008, funded by a nearly $3 million grant from the Renewable Energy Grant Fund, administered by the Alaska Energy Authority, and an $800,000 loan from the Alaska Power Project Fund.
A major obstacle facing any geothermal program in Akutan is the high development costs of drilling in the remote area, estimated to be three times as high as mainland drilling.
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