Sustainability Assessment of Power Generation from an Abandoned Oil and Gas Well in Alberta, Canada

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to study the sustainability of power generation from an abandoned oil and gas well in the province of Alberta, Canada. Economic and environmental indicators were used for the sustainability assessment. A conceptual design for a pilot plant was developed, and the main parameters were determined. An abandoned oil and gas well represents the thermal power source through circulating water into an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) unit to generate electricity. The thermal power is extracted through a double-pipe heat exchanger configuration installed in an abandoned well and having the benefit of the already erected casing pipe. The ORC unit is with a maximum electric power capacity of 110 kW at water flow rate 22.1 l/s, and water outlet temperature 122°C. The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for geothermal power generation from an abandoned well was developed at different values of water outlet temperature in the range 77°C- 122°C and the corresponding LCOE range was 0.10 $/kWh- 0.54 $/kWh. Based on the same water outlet temperature range, a shift of power generation from natural gas to an abandoned well in Alberta would mitigate a range of 8600- 14800 tonnes of CO2 annually. Reservoirs in Alberta with high temperatures more than 150°C are recommended for installation of sustainable geothermal power generation system with large-scale power capacity in megawatts. The efficient high-temperature reservoir would lead to a more feasible, sustainable, and cost-effective system output.