The anchor of our development and major revenue source will be the geothermal pools. While previous exploratory drillings in the area indicate excellent potential for geothermall water sources with a temperature gradient of 120 degrees C. / 1.000 m. the real challenge is to hit the hot water source. It’s typically located along cracks in the rock layers below.
We are consulting with one of Iceland’s premier geothermal experts, to make sure we minimize the chance of failure to find geothermal water and carry out the search in the most cost-effective way.
This means we start with 3-4 exploratory drills of up to 80 meters, followed by a magnetic survey (done with a drone). This will give us an indication on where to start drilling the production well that we expect to go 900-1.500 m. deep). It will also give us guidance on the drilling method to use: straight down, under an angle or directional. Each have pro’s and con’s. Directional drilling give most flexibility and highest chance of success but it’s also a factor 40-60% more expensive.
A typical small geothermal well in Iceland – say producing 10 liters/sec. watrer of 90 C. that is cooled down to 30 C. can easily produce about 2.5 MW, enough to heat hundreds of homes. Certainly enough for our project.. But just in case our well’s production is a lot less, our heat-exchanger pool heating system (more on that in other post) will allow us to meet our heating needs with even 3 liters/sec.
Below a breakdown of the cost of our drilling project based on actual quotes and estimates received from local companies. A lot cheaper than in the Netherlands! Probably one of the few things that is cheaper in Iceland😂.
The drinking water production cost include drilling a well, building a water intake in the nearby creek, a filter installations, UV desinfection equipment, a 58 m3 water silo for storage and (remote) monitoring equipment.