Sage Geosystems and Chiyoda have agreed to jointly examine whether the surface equipment needed for a commercial-scale geothermal power plant can work technically and commercially.
Under a memorandum of understanding, the two companies will carry out a feasibility study of the high-pressure surface facilities required to recover energy from high-temperature, high-pressure fluid brought up from wells. This set-up would draw on Sage’s proprietary enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) approach.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Chiyoda will assess the configuration of the main equipment, power and energy balances, indicative capital and operating costs, and the cost of power generation.
This work will be based on wellhead pressure, fluid properties, and temperature and operating conditions supplied by Sage.
Sage’s method involves injecting water into an engineered reservoir created in hot rock to leverage both the heat and the pressure energy held underground.
Water returns to the surface from the reservoir, limiting losses of pressure and water.
The company says the approach can supply stable, low-carbon baseload power. It is also being developed for long-duration energy storage, in which surplus electricity is used to store pressure underground and released when demand rises.
Sage engineering and development senior vice-president Shayne Dustin said: “Chiyoda’s expertise in engineering complex, high-pressure industrial facilities makes it an ideal partner as we move Sage’s proprietary EGS approach towards commercial scale.
“This collaboration is a significant step in proving out the surface infrastructure needed to convert our subsurface innovation into gigawatt-scale power generation and long-duration energy storage.”
The initiative has been selected for support under the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s TIB CATAPULT programme, a cluster scheme promoted by Plug and Play Japan as TIB cluster representative.
The companies said that the study also aligns with Tokyo’s Zero Emission Tokyo Strategy.
Chiyoda business development and growth transformation division assistant division director business co-creation head Ken Kimeta said: “This collaboration brings together Chiyoda’s engineering strength in high-pressure facility design with Sage’s subsurface methodologies.
“Together, we aim to accelerate the path to commercial-scale deployment and deliver a dependable, low-carbon power source.”
Conventional geothermal plants depend on naturally occurring steam or hot water and are largely confined to particular regions.
EGS instead applies drilling, well construction and reservoir management techniques from the oil and gas sector, which could allow geothermal development in areas previously seen as unsuitable.
Earlier this month, Sage Geosystems placed its SMECI facility in South Texas, US, into service after an extended operating period.
