A letter from the world’s hottest geothermal well

Researcher from SINTEF have made a PT (pressure and temperature) logging instrument for extreme environments. The instrument is part of the H2020 project DESCRAMBLE exploring the possibility of drilling geothermal wells with supercritical conditions (temperature above 374°C and pressure above 220bar).

• Read more about the project DESCRAMBLE

On Monday, September 25th, the instrument measured 372.9 °C and rising temperature at a pressure of 220 bar at 2610 meters depth 12 hours after the wellbore circulation was stopped.

This means that when the well is stable in temperature, it will already be close to supercritical conditions.

Ambitious Leaders

ENEL Green Power, which is leading the operation and as the largest supplier of geothermal energy, does not stop at this depth. They plan to drill further down to 3200m where estimates show that the well will have a temperature up to 450°C.

Once done, SINTEF will again go to Larderello in Italy (Tuscany) where the well is to measure these extreme conditions with the world’s only logging instrument made for temperatures above 400°C.

• Read more: Going for a geothermal world record