Opportunities for Geothermal Development in Texas

Texas has a great advantage in drilling for geothermal resources as the state has access to detailed subsurface analyses of heat resources, reservoirs, and deep water availability due to the oil and gas drilling throughout the state.  In January 2007, the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) published a ground-breaking study, Geopowering Texas: Conversion of Deep Gas Wells and Fields into Geothermal Energy Wells, performed by Dr. Richard Erdlac at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin (UTPB). This data provides advance knowledge of the best areas to go for heat energy acquisition. The three-year exploration and resource research project focused on West Texas, identifying and assessing potential sites for converting depleted deep gas wells and fields into geothermal energy wells to generate renewable electrical power.

Texas has thousands of wells that have high enough temperatures for the possible development of geopressured and geothermal resources. The study proposes that the idea behind Texas geothermal production is the reuse of the wells drilled by the oil and gas industry that are either sufficiently deep to encounter hot water, or that could be deepened into these hot zones. Researchers estimate that electric power production potential from Texas oil and gas wells range from 400 MW to over 2,000 MW.

Map of Geothermal Resources in Texas

The map of Texas geothermal resources below shows that a largely untapped energy resource lies underneath our feet that can be developed for electrical power generation. The orange color represents the known potential for hydrothermal uses such as space heating, fish farming, desalinization and resort spas. The green color shows the known potential for geopressure uses such as heating, enhanced oil recovery and electricity. The blue areas show the known potential for hot dry rock uses such as heating and electricity. The map also shows that there are at least five major regions within Texas that have a strong potential for geothermal electrical power production. These include East Texas, the Gulf Coast, the Delaware-Val Verde Basin region, the Trans-Pecos region, and the Anadarko Basin where it enters the Texas Panhandle. The region consisting of the Maverick Basin along the South Texas–Mexico border may represent an independent sixth area for consideration. These regions are based upon the existence of oil and gas wells with temperatures that can get above 212^oF. The locations and boundaries of the geothermal areas illustrated are approximate.