Hydrocarbon-Geothermal Co-Production: Worldwide Scale Status and Evaluation of the Techno-Economic Potential in Serbia

Hydrocarbon-geothermal co-production is an emerging opportunity for a wider development of geothermal energy. In the frame of the french-serbian GOSPEL program (Geothermal Serbian Pilot projects for Heat and Electricity), a state of the art of the synergies and challenges of co-production has been performed. The knowledge of co-production potential at worldwide scale remains limited, but numerous countries have started investigating this topic. On-going projects were mapped, revealing a large diversity of initiatives in regards to the geological settings, possible well configurations and thermal co-production capacities. Besides, the opportunities for hydrocarbon-geothermal co-production in Serbia were studied. Technologies suited to exploit the geothermal fluid and the recovered methane for heat or power production have been identified. Based on the available data of gas contents in geothermal fluids, areas of interest for co-production projects could be selected. Then, different scenarios were considered to assess the techno-economic potential of two sites, based on performance evaluation and a simplified economic model. The preliminary calculations showed that, in all scenarios, methane can be extracted and its combustion can be used for heat and electricity production. The geothermal fluid could also be exploited for heat or power production, depending on the geothermal resource quality and flow volume.