Analysis and Risk Mitigation measures for Induced Seismicity in supercriTICal gEothermal systems

Project Information

ARMISTICE

Grant agreement ID: 882733

DOI

10.3030/882733

Project terminated on 30 June 2022

EC signature date 17 March 2020

Start date 1 September 2021

End date 31 August 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 160 932,48

EU contribution

€ 160 932,48

Coordinated by

AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ARMISTICE (Analysis and Risk Mitigation measures for Induced Seismicity in supercriTICal gEothermal systems)

Reporting period: 2021-09-01 to 2023-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

ARMISTICE combines carbon capture and storage (CCS) and exploitation of supercritical geothermal systems (SCGS), creating the necessary economic value in CCS that will reduce the impact on climate change and contribute to the UNESCO Sustainable Development Goals "Affordable And Clean Energy" and "Climate Action". ARMISTICE will positively contribute to the societal challenges of producing CO2-negative, clean and renewable energy to tackle climate change by exploring the most suitable conditions to exploit combined CCS-SCGS. The objectives are to: i) maximize carbon-free energy production; ii) maximize storage of CO2; iii) minimize risks of CO2 leaks and iv) minimize the risks of inducing large earthquakes. The research aims at providing suitable balanced conditions between risks and rewards in CCS-SCGS projects.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Within the period of the action, the project explored the feasibility of combining CCS with SCGS to create economic value. The technical questions related to the flow conditions and the energy output are the main objective tackled in WP1, which has been fully achieved. The work carried out in WP2 had the purpose of extending the findings of WP1 and studying the fault stability and induced seismicity potential of combined CCS-SCGS. Preliminary work has been carried out in collaboration with the network of the ER and some early tangible results are available. However, the early termination of the grant did not allow for the objectives of WP2 to be fully achieved. The goals of training the ER and enhancing his career outlook have been fully achieved. The ER has undergone training that allowed him to i) improve the quality of the research carried out within the action and enhance his career perspectives. The project results have been disseminated through 1 book chapter, 5 ISI journal manuscripts (1 published, 2 in review, 2 in preparation), 8 international conference abstracts, 3 invited seminars, 1 project website, and multiple posts on social media.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The impact of ARMISTICE overcomes the current state-of-the-art in understanding supercritical geothermal systems. ARMISTICE provides precious insight on multiphase and multicomponent flow in high-temperature reservoirs. The project has shown under which conditions injecting CO2 in SCGS will be advantageous, paving the way for future developments of the technology. ARMISTICE provides computational methods and results useful to tackle questions related to geoengineering applications, and to geoscientific problems such as magmatic fluids flow, dike propagation, volcano-seismicity and instabilities. ARMISTICE has furthermore shown that high prices of CCS storage could increase the employability of CO2 in geothermal systems. Stepping up CCS towards industrial-scale applications is a necessary measure for the energy transition needed to meet the current climate targets. The results show a roadmap to create economic value in CCS, helping to reduce the anthropic impact on climate change and contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of "Affordable and Clean Energy" (SDG 7) and "Climate Action" (SDG 13).

The research methodology followed in ARMISTICE allows to safely develop combined CCS-SCGS reservoirs