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Contributions Journées de la Géothermie 2022
Aix-les-Bains, 9 et 10 Juin 2022
1
Solution to promote the results, expertise and partnership of the GEOTREF research
project: Towards an open, coordinated and supervised multidisciplinary network of
companies and laboratories highly specialized in geoscience
Michel H. Garcia, KIDOVA, Yves Géraud, GeoRessources, Marc Diraison, GeoRessources, Jean-Marc Lardeaux,
Geoazur, Michel Corsini, Geoazur, Béatrice Ledésert, Géoscience Environnement Cergy, Ronan Hébert, Géoscience
Environnement Cergy, Dominique Bruel, Mines ParisTech, Mark Noble, Mines ParisTech, Rachid Ababou, Institut de
Mécanique des Fluides de Toulouse, Catherine Colin, Institut de Mécanique des Fluides de Toulouse, Manuel
Marcoux, Institut de Mécanique des Fluides de Toulouse, Wladimir Bergez, Institut de Mécanique des Fluides de
Toulouse, Philippe Ackerer, Institut Terre Environnement de Strasbourg, Damien Lemarchand, Institut Terre
Environnement de Strasbourg, Sophie Rihs, Institut Terre Environnement de Strasbourg, Guillaume Caumon,
GeoRessources, François Bonneau, GeoRessources, Jérome Fortin, ENS Paris, Marie-Lise Bernard, Université des
Antilles, Jean-Frédéric Lebrun, Université des Antilles, Pascal Tarits, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Frédéric
Gérard, Teranov, Alain Rabaute, Geosubsight, Alfazazi Dourfaye, Gounti Yena, Lionel Bertrand, Enerex, Jeanne
Mercier de Lépinay, Terremys, Sophie Hautot, Imagir, Philippe Laplaige, Ademe
michel.garcia@kidova.com
yves.geraud@univ-lorraine.fr / marc.diraison@univ-lorraine.fr
jean-marc.lardeaux @univ-cotedazur.fr / michel.corsini@univ-cotedazur.fr
beatrice.ledesert@cyu.fr / ronan.hebert@cyu.fr
dominique.bruel@mines-paristech.fr / mark.noble@mines-paristech.fr
ababou@imft.fr / catherine.colin@imft.fr / marcoux@imft.fr / wladimir.bergez@imft.fr
ackerer@unistra.fr / lemarcha@unistra.fr / rihs@unistra.fr
guillaume.caumon@ensg.univ-lorraine.fr / francois.bonneau@univ-lorraine.fr
jerome.fortin@ens.fr
marie-lise.bernard@univ-antilles.fr / jean-frederic.lebrun@univ-antilles.fr
tarits@univ-brest.fr
fgerard@teranov.fr
alain.rabaute@geosubsight.com / adourfaye@gountiyena.com
lionel.bertrand@enerex.fr / j.mercier@terremys.fr
sophie.hautot@imagir.eu
philippe.laplaige@ademe.fr
Key words: deep geothermal energy, geological risks, resource risks, economic risks, resource identification, resource
assessment, exploration, uncertainties, decision making, geoscience, multidisciplinary, synergy
1. INTRODUCTION
Under the pressure of climate change and the transition to low-carbon energy, deep geothermal energy is experiencing an
unprecedented worldwide enthusiasm. Investors are mobilizing, oil companies and oil-related companies are interested in it and many
companies are being created to propose solutions likely to facilitate or improve its exploitation.
However, the risks associated with resource assessment and drilling, due to the uncertainties of the subsurface, remain and have long
been a major obstacle to its development regardless of the mode of exploitation and use: electricity production or direct use of the
heat (Sanyal et al., 2016). As described in Le Guénan et al. (2021), these risks are all the more complex to assess as they can be short-
term (absence of an economically exploitable resource after drilling) or long-term (depletion of the resource that has become
economically unviable). For lack of better solutions to assess resources and mitigate the risks than those still making reference (Grant,
2015), solutions are sought in risk pooling and in insurance systems (Dumas et al., 2021).
To mitigate risks and exploit resources better, there is, however, unanimous agreement (European Energy Research Alliance / EERA
Geothermal, "GeoScience & GeoEnergy Webinars", French Pôle Avenia...): fully multidisciplinary and collaborative approaches
with a high level of expertise in geoscience must be implemented. Expertise in the different geoscience fields exists and continues to
grow, but in a dispersed manner and with little or no synergy, both internally and between research laboratories and highly qualified
companies. The corresponding knowledge and skills are very specialized and numerous, which makes them difficult to master for
companies that develop deep geothermal energy and whose primary aim is to exploit well-identified resources sustainably. The
Garcia et al.
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exploration and exploitation of deep geothermal resources require to understand and conceptualize their functioning in all its
complexity (scales and processes), to define the associated uncertainties and to evaluate their consequences in order to make decisions.
A solution is proposed to meet this objective based on the results, the multidisciplinary expertise and the partnership of the GEOTREF
research project dedicated to deep geothermal energy and fractured reservoirs. The target market is national, European and beyond.
2. PROPOSED SOLUTION
The GEOTREF R&D project is funded by the Investissements d'Avenir and ADEME (www.geotref.com). It was designed to cover
all the fields of expertise required in geoscience and modeling to address at best the risks associated with deep geothermal resources,
including the fractured reservoir issues. It has enabled the acquisition of new knowledge in geothermal energy, especially in volcanic
systems, the development of innovative methods and approaches, the development of a software platform dedicated to deep
geothermal energy and fractured reservoirs, and the achievement of genuine multidisciplinary synergies between the partners (Garcia
et al., 2021, Favier et al., 2022).
The GEOTREF value-added solution aims to provide all the necessary means, ensuring efficiency and cost-effectiveness, for the
identification, reliable (accurate and precise) assessment and sustainable exploitation of deep geothermal resources (Figure 1).
Data (exploration, exhumed analogues...): acquisition, processing and interpretation.
Databases: constitution and exploitation.
Expertise and approaches: multidisciplinary and collaborative in geoscience.
Modeling: numerical conceptual models, static and dynamic models integrating data and hypotheses.
Uncertainties: formalization, parameterization and analysis associated with phenomenological studies.
Decision making: at all stages of a project in terms of investigations and operating strategies.
Tools: software platform, project management platform, calculation capabilities.
The solution relies on a business network of companies to be at the forefront of studies and a network of laboratories to support R&D
and training, all coordinated and supervised for the studies by a start-up, delegated by GEOTREF, in a pre-incubation phase at the
time of preparing this communication. The networks of companies and laboratories are intended to be open so that they can mutually
enrich each other with new expertise or methods.
Figure 1: steps of the numerical part of the GEOTREF approach to deep geothermal resource assessment.
REFERENCES
Dumas, P., et al. (2021). GEORISK Project: Risk Mitigation and Insurance Schemes Adapted to Geothermal Market Maturity, the
Right Scheme for my Market, Experience from Europe, Proceedings of the World Geothermal Congress 2020+1, Reykjavik,
Iceland, May to October, 2021.
Favier, A., Navelot, V., Lardeaux, J.-M., Géraud, Y., Corsini, M., Diraison, M., Verati, C., équipe GEOTREF (2022). Caractérisation
des réservoirs géothermaux profonds en contexte d’arc volcanique par l’étude d’analogues exhumés en Guadeloupe (Petites
Antilles), Journées de la Géothermie, Aix-les-Bains, 9–10 juin 2022.
Garcia, M.H., Mathieu, J.-B., GARCIA, F. + GEOTREF team (2021). Getting into Numerical Modeling and Simulation to Help
Mitigate Geological and Associated Financial Risks by Better Tackling Geothermal Resource Uncertainty Issues at the Earliest
at Exploration or Prefeasibility Stage, Proceedings of the World Geothermal Congress 2020+1, Reykjavik, Iceland, May to
October, 2021.
Grant, M.A. (2015). Resource assessment, a review with reference to the Australian code, Proceedings of the World Geothermal
Congress 2015, Melbourne, Australia, 19–24 April 2015.
Le Guénan, T., Calcagno, P., Veloso, F., Hamm, V., Loschetter, A., Maurel, C., Seyidov, F., Dumas, P. (2021). The H2020 GEORISK
Project – Inventory and Assessment of Risks Associated to the Development of Deep Geothermal Heating and Power Projects,
Proceedings of the World Geothermal Congress 2020+1, Reykjavik, Iceland, May to Octobre, 2021.
Sanyal, S. K., Robertson-Tait, A., Jayawardena, M. S., Huttrer, G., Berman, L. (2016). Comparative Analysis of Approaches to
Geothermal Resource Risk Mitigation – A Global Survey, Knowledge Series 024/16, Energy Sector Management Assistance
Program (ESMAP), World Bank.