Solutions developed

The direct results of the project include:

  • Information technology tools dedicated to the study of geothermal reservoirs, applied to the exploratory phases and exploitation of these deposits,
  • technological leadership based in the Caribbean in a strategic and pro-development business sector,
  • identification and qualification of the geothermal resource in Guadeloupe and in a promising perimeter of the island in terms of electricity production from geothermal energy (Vieux Habitants).
Reservoir model used to simulate the heat flow and transport in order to understand and limit the geological risk

Reservoir model used to simulate the heat flow and transport in order to understand and limit the geological risk

To achieve these results, methods from research initiated in the framework the project will be translated into software solutions and integrated into a single platform to facilitate implementation and diffusion. The innovation will be based on an integration and compilation of a large amount of data (geological, geophysical, geochemical, etc.) to improve the modeling of the reservoir. The software solutions used will be based on the GOCAD-SKUA geological modeler, derived from French research for the oil industry and already the subject of complementary developments for adaptation to other subsurface domaines such as the mining field (Mira Geoscience) and the environment (KIDOVA).

The project will also seek to implement and operate micro-seismic measures, which, in fractured reservoirs, are still very poorly exploited, and will make it possible to improve knowledge:

  • on the geomechanical features of fractured reservoirs,
  • on their geomechanical behaviour according to the flow conditions,
  • on the preferential flow paths in a fractured environment, whose evolution over time, according to physico-chemical phenomena, is a major concern in high geothermal energy.

Beyond the improved characterization and understanding expected of fractured geothermal reservoirs, it will ultimately address the aspect of micro-seismic monitoring both in terms of risk and the exploitation of a reservoir. The originality of this work will be based on laboratory experiments and on a large-scale dedicated test site.