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Electricity Production West Texas
A Presentation To The New Mexico Geothermal
Energy Working Group
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 Santa Fe, NM
An Example For New Mexico
Dr. Richard J. Erdlac, Jr. Energy America,
Inc. Energy America Geothermal, LLC Midland, Texas
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Energy America Inc.
Energy America Geothermal, LLC
Trading Supply
POWER
GEOEXCHANGE
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Presentation Overview
1) New Mexico sits astride a high near surface
heat flow trend that stretches from Colorado
south to the Mexican border.
2) New Mexico is part of a broad trend of states
with deeper oil and gas wells that extends from
the Gulf Coast NNW to Montana.
3) West Texas Permian Basin geothermal
investigations suggest that parts of New Mexico
may also have geothermal power potential from
deeper oil and gas wells.
4) Trans-Pecos region of West Texas has promise
of geothermal power as part of the Rio Grande
Rift, stretching from the Big Bend of Texas
through New Mexico and into Colorado.
5) Geothermal energy may have the highest
capacity factor of all the renewable energy
resources available for power generation.
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Geothermal For Electrical Production
Existing geothermal power generation has focused
on western states where high heat flow exists at
or near the Earths surface.
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Subsurface BHT Data AAPG / USGS
New opportunity exists through the many oil and
gas wells that have been drilled in the deeper
sedimentary basins that have encountered hot
temperatures.
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Subsurface BHT Data AAPG / USGS
New opportunity exists through the many oil and
gas wells that have been drilled in the deeper
sedimentary basins that have encountered hot
temperatures.
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• Subsurface BHT Data AAPG / USGS

Delaware Val Verde Basins
Blue 151 to 178oF (66 to 81oC) Green 179 to
288oF (82 to 142oC) Red gt 289oF (gt 143oC) Dark
Gray Area 302oF (150oC) Isotherm
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• Subsurface BHT Data Gulf Oil 1982

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• GDS Well Data Base

GDS 321,000 Wells Locations May 2004
GDS 44,525 Wells Locations May 2004
0 to 4,999 Feet 33,481 Wells Locations
12,000 to 30,000 Feet 2,242 Wells Locations
5,000 to 11,999 Feet 8,802 Wells Locations
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• Delaware Val Verde Basin BHT Data

RS2RD2 Maximized
RS2RD2 Maximized
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• Delaware Val Verde Basin BHT Data

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• Delaware Val Verde Basin BHT Data

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• Delaware Val Verde Basin BHT Data

At 200oC Pecos dT/dZ 58.8oC
At 200oC Gomez dT/dZ 49.8oC
At 200oC Puckett dT/dZ 75.0oC
At 200oC Grey Ranch dT/dZ 50.0oC
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• Impact On New Mexico

San Juan Basin
Permian Basin
Blue 151 to 178oF (66 to 81oC) Green 179 to
288oF (82 to 142oC) Red gt 289oF (gt 143oC)
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• Trans Pecos, Texas Rio Grande Rift

Heat Flux
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• Trans Pecos, Texas Rio Grande Rift

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• Trans Pecos, Texas Rio Grande Rift

2.753oC/100m
All points.
Below threshold jump.
The points defining well gradients were plotted
as t-d values (right), with purple and blue
values combined representing all of the BHT
records and with blue values alone representing
t-d points below the 2.753oC/100m threshold
change.
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• Impact On New Mexico

Rio Grande Rift
Estimated Temperature at 4 KM Sedimentary
Thickness Contour Interval 1500 m Idaho Nat Lab
Geothermal Technologies Program Idaho Nat Lab
Geospatial Sci Eng
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Importance Of Geothermal Power

• A major importance of geothermal
• power production is that it has a high
• capacity factor.

• Thus geothermal impacts base load
• electrical demand.

Geothermal Energy Association, West Coast
Geothermal Finance Development Workshop, May
2007
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Conclusions

• New Mexico sits astride a high near surface heat
  flow trend that stretches from Colorado south to
  the Mexican border.

• New Mexico is part of a broad trend of states
  with deeper oil and gas wells that extends from
  the Gulf Coast NNW to Montana.

• West Texas Permian Basin geothermal
  investigations suggest that parts of New Mexico
  may also have geothermal power potential from
  deeper oil and gas wells.

• Trans-Pecos region of West Texas has promise of
  geothermal power as part of the Rio Grande Rift,
  stretching from the Big Bend of Texas through New
  Mexico and into Colorado.

• Geothermal energy may have the highest capacity
  factor of all the renewable energy resources
  available for power generation.