IDDP (Iceland Deep Drilling Project) is the name of a scientific project which started in the year 2000. The first well was drilled in in Reykjanes by HS-Orka, 2004-2005 but the well had to be abandoned in 2006. Following that it was decided to move to another drilling field, Krafla in northern Iceland in the year 2009. After drilling down to 2104 mtr the operation had to be terminated when the drill-bit penetrated into a magma..
Now a new IDDP project has started, and we are happy to inform that Iceland Drilling formally started the drilling operation of a new IDDP well by the deepening existing well in Reykjanes on the 11th of August 2016.
The main purpose of the project is to find out if it’s feasible to extract energy and chemicals out of the hydrothermal systems at supercritical conditions. The idea is to drill deep enough, 5 km at least, into the roots of a conventional high temperature hydrothermal system to produce water at supercritical conditions and bring it to the surface as 400-600°C superheated steam which is then to be used for efficient electricity production n steam turbines.
“Put it more simply you can compare it to the Earth’s radiator system, and geothermal energy is a global resource.” –Head of Renewable research technology in Statoil.
The drilling itself is expected to be completed by the end of 2016 and after that the project will enter a two and a half year test period.
For more information and news on the progress please visit: http://www.iddp.is/