Geothermal project in Basel questioned after tremors

Basel authorities are investigating the risks of pursuing the Deep Heat Mining project, run by the Swiss geothermal project developer Geopower Basel, after a series of earthquakes in the city.

Since December 8, Basel has been hit by four tremors centered on the site of the Deep Heat Mining project, where a geothermal power plant is to be constructed. This involves injecting water through boreholes to extract energy from hot dry granite, and when it returns to the surface as steam it is used to generate electricity.

Even if Geopower Basel has stopped work in December, further shockwaves are not excluded.

More than 100 small incidents have been recorded, resulting in 700 requests for  compensation after damage, mostly cracks on walls.

Sharp criticism has also rained down from experts as Switzerland is known for being located on a seismic fault.

Last week the Basel government took a first step by announcing that it was going to carry out a full quantitative risk analysis based on new data to help decide whether or not the project should be resumed.

As the analysis will take at least one year, the earliest that drilling can resume at the Kleinhüningen plant is in four years' time.

The plant is projected to deliver heat to 2,700 homes and electricity to
10,000. The project will be more expensive than expected as CHF 56m (USD 45m) of the CHF 80m (USD 64.7m) budget has already been spent. Canton Basel City has given CHF 32m (USD 26m), leading a host of other investors including energy suppliers.

By: New Energy Finance