Business · Ars Technica
Startup taps underwater volcano as energy source in "proof point" test
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The world’s first demonstration of a subsea geothermal power plant has taken place near an active underwater volcano almost a mile below the ocean surface.
Key facts
- Endurance Energy’s deployment required a subsea lander drill to deploy from the ship Ocean Guardian —operated by Stabbert Maritime—and drill two holes in the seafloor at a depth of about 5,000 feet
- Adélie also connected to Endurance Energy’s Seattle command center by plugging into the Regional Cabled Array, a 559-mile (900-kilometer) network of undersea fiber-optic and electric cables
- The test well was also 2 inches (5 centimeters) wide, compared to oil, gas, and onshore geothermal wells that typically have casings 20 to 36 inches (51 to 91 centimeters)
- The three-week test deployment of the 3-ton prototype power plant took place at the Axial Seamount in the northeast Pacific Ocean in September
Summary
The three-week test deployment of the 3-ton prototype power plant took place at the Axial Seamount in the northeast Pacific Ocean in September. “The deep ocean gives us unlimited cold seawater for cooling, and its weight keeps the system and the well pressurized, so our plants can be compact,” said Andrew Redd, founder and CEO of Endurance Energy, in an email to Ars. But efforts to tap geothermal power on the seafloor face many different challenges from land-based geothermal projects, which can also add up to higher installation and operational costs. “It’s probably technically feasible, but it would undoubtedly be more expensive than to do it on land,” said Roland Horne, professor of energy science & engineering at Stanford University, in an emailed response to Ars.