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Exploring for Superhot Geothermal Targets in Magmatic Settings: Developing a Methodology

Conference ·
OSTI ID:1923659

This paper presents preliminary results from a subset of work carried out as part of a multinational research project entitled DErisking Exploration for multiple geothermal Plays in magmatic ENvironments (DEEPEN). One objective of DEEPEN is to develop a customized approach to exploration for superhot geothermal plays in magmatic systems. This paper summarizes key geologic components, risk factors, and exploration methods for geothermal plays in magmatic settings based on a review and comparative analysis of international training sites. As part of a Play Fairway Analysis (PFA) approach to exploring for multiple play types in a single magmatic system, training data were compiled and weights assigned to various evidence layers. Two different approaches for weighting exploration datasets are described in this paper - one based on expert opinions and the other using statistical learning. Weights produced by both approaches will be input into a 3D PFA workflow that combines multiple exploration datasets to generate 3D geothermal favorability models, which will be applied to two international demonstration sites.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Geothermal Technologies Office (EE-4G)
DOE Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1923659
Report Number(s):
NREL/CP-4A00-83593; MainId:84366; UUID:18e587cb-8b36-47a5-b782-5f25eccd14a5; MainAdminID:68638
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English