Drilling surprise opens door to volcano-powered electricity
▻https://theconversation.com/drilling-surprise-opens-door-to-volcano-powered-electricity-22515
Elders said that the success of the drilling was “amazing, to say the least”, adding: “This could lead to a revolution in the energy efficiency of high-temperature geothermal projects in the future.”
The well funnelled superheated, high-pressure steam for months at temperatures of over 450°C – a world record. In comparison, geothermal resources in the UK rarely reach higher than around 60-80°C.
The magma-heated steam was measured to be capable of generating 36MW of electrical power. While relatively modest compared to a typical 660MW coal-fired power station, this is considerably more than the 1-3MW of an average wind turbine, and more than half of the Krafla plant’s current 60MW output.
[...] With the deeper boreholes, the IDDP are looking for a further prize: supercritical water; at high temperature and under high pressure deep underground, the water enters a supercritical state, when it is neither gas nor liquid. In this state it carries far more energy and, harnessed correctly, this can increase the power output above ground tenfold, from 5MW to 50MW.
