COMPASS

Geothermal wells drilled into superhot conditions may provide access to new resources below the reach of conventional geothermal wells. Moreover, such wells could yield significantly more power than conventional ones. This would reduce the environmental footprint of geothermal utilisation both in land use and in the number of wells required for power generation. The EU-funded COMPASS project will address the main technical challenges of drilling into superhot formations. Those challenges include well integrity issues due to high temperature, and corrosive fluid chemistry. COMPASS will deliver improved and innovative well design to solve those challenges. Novel foam cement solutions suitable for high-temperature formations will be developed to improve well integrity, and cost-effective laser cladding will be used to improve corrosion protection inside the casing pipes.

Duration: 1 November 2022 - 31 October 2025