Geothermal 4.0: AI-enabled geothermal reservoir development- current status, potentials, limitations, and ways forward

Abstract

The development and operation of geothermal resources are known to be capital-intensive due to their remote geographical location and extreme reservoir pressure & temperature conditions. Technology integration, which has become the focal point of the decade for the oil and gas industry, is seen as a part of the solution that can incentivize companies to conduct further exploration and exploitation of geothermal resources. Technology integration plays a crucial role in the creation of optimum operating conditions at minimized costs, which leads to a more sustainable energy transition towards other energy sources besides petroleum. Geothermal resources are considered renewable energy with lower carbon emissions in comparison to fossil fuels. Considering this important aspect, this review highlights the integration of advanced technology on geothermal reservoir performance optimization. In this review, at first, a brief description of the fundamental concepts and classifications of geothermal reservoirs are addressed. The current status of AI technology integration with geothermal reservoir characterization and management are outlined and its potentials, limitations, and ways forward are discussed. Also, Digital 4.0, which refers to the fourth industrial revolution through digitalization and AI/ML technology, is discussed in this study by reviewing a number of literature resources within the scope of data analytics and artificial intelligence integration in production performance, maintenance evaluation, and reservoir storage optimization of the geothermal reservoir.