What projects do geothermal drilling companies work on?

Over the past few decades, a lot of attention has been placed on identifying sustainable energy solutions to replace gas and coal. With increasing geopolitical instability impacting hydrocarbon prices and availability, this has only become more important. 

Geothermal drilling companies work on projects that aim to partially fill this gap. By facilitating access to the heat stored in the ground beneath us, geothermal drilling can provide cheap, sustainable heat and energy to a wide range of clients. 

What is geothermal drilling?

As the name suggests, geothermal drilling projects aim to facilitate tapping into the thermal energy that’s stored in the ground. These projects can, however, be carried out on very different scales, depending on the client and their energy needs.

Small scale

On a smaller scale, geothermal drilling companies will provide assistance on heat-pump installation projects for domestic properties and smaller businesses. 

This will typically involve drilling holes of between 50 and 150 m into the ground, depending on the soil, the heating needs of the property in question, and other variables such as average external temperatures. 

Once a drilling rig has been brought to the site and all the details have been confirmed, projects on this scale might just take a couple of days to complete, with a little extra time required to install pipes into the borehole and link them up to the heat pump.

Large scale

Geothermal energy projects can also be carried out on a much larger scale. For these kinds of projects, geothermal drilling companies might be contracted to drill wells up to 5,000 m underground, tapping into naturally heated brine. 

The heat that is extracted from these systems can then be used to heat entire housing developments, commercial sites, hospitals and other larger-scale infrastructural projects. 

These kinds of geothermal projects obviously require a lot more planning, and the drilling itself will typically take much longer to complete than domestic geothermal boreholes. Of course, this is all relative to a much larger energy yield. 

Geothermal drilling process outlined

There are a few stages involved in most geothermal drilling projects. 

Planning

The planning stage will involve identifying the heating needs of the client in question, and then designing a system to meet those needs. It will also include seeking planning permission from any relevant authorities. 

Drilling 

Once the system has been designed, the drilling can start. On domestic-scale projects, this might take just a day or two to complete, and should result in minimal disruption. 

System installation 

Once the borehole has been drilled, the pipes can be installed and linked up to the rest of the system, commonly a ground source heat pump. This may take a further couple of days, depending on the scale of the project. 

Geothermal drilling projects can be quite diverse, helping a wide range of different individuals and organisations to meet their energy needs. It’s absolutely worth reaching out to a geothermal energy expert, to find out whether there could be an appropriate solution for your specific requirements.