French geothermal resources survey BRGM contribution to the market study in the LOW-BIN project BRGM/RP - 57583 - FR August, 2009 French geothermal resources survey BRGM contribution to the market study in the LOW-BIN project (TREN/05/FP6EN/S07.53962/518277) BRGM/RP-57583-FR August, 2009 F. Jaudin With the collaboration of M. Le Brun, V.Bouchot, C. Dezaye IM 003 ANG – April 05 Keywords: French geothermal resources, geothermal heat, geothermal electricity generation schemes, geothermal Rankine Cycle, cogeneration, geothermal binary plants In bibliography, this report should be cited as follows: Jaudin F. , Le Brun M., Bouchot V., Dezaye C. (2009) - French geothermal resources survey, BRGM contribution to the market study in the LOW-BIN Project. BRGM/RP-57583 - FR © BRGM, 2009. No part of this document may be reproduced without the prior permission of BRGM French geothermal resources survey BRGM contribution to the market study in the LOW-BIN Project BRGM, July 2009 F.JAUDIN M. LE BRUN, V. BOUCHOT, C. DEZAYE 1 / 33 TABLE OF CONTENT 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................4 2. The sedimentary regions...................................................................................................5 2.1. The Paris Basin ........................................................................................................5 2.1.1. An overview of the exploitation of the low enthalpy Dogger reservoir ..............7 2.1.2. The geothermal potential of the different silicoclastic reservoirs in the Trias formation ……………………………………………………………………………………….10 2.1.3. Conclusion for the geothermal potential of the Triassic reservoirs in the Paris basin …………………………………………………………………………………………….12 2.2. The Aquitaine Basin ...............................................................................................13 2.3. The Limagne Graben..............................................................................................14 2.3.1. The Lutetian clastic reservoir (S1-DET)..........................................................16 2.3.2. The Bartonian clastic reservoir (S2-DET) .......................................................17 2.3.3. The Rupleian clastic reservoir (S3-DET) ........................................................17 2.4. The Rhine Graben (Alsace)....................................................................................19 2.4.1. Installed plants for electricity production ( > 120°C) .......................................19 2.4.2. Potential geothermal resources ......................................................................21 2.5. The Rhône Graben and the Provence Valley.........................................................24 2.6. The Bresse Basin ...................................................................................................26 3. The volcanic region: the French Overseas Territories. ...................................................28 3.1. Guadeloupe ............................................................................................................28 3.2. Martinique...............................................................................................................29 3.3. La Réunion .............................................................................................................30 4. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................31 Some references …………………………………………………………………………..32 2 / 33 TABLE OF FIGURES Fig 1: geological environment in France................................................................................... 4 Fig 2: location of the Paris Basin in France .............................................................................. 5 Fig 3: litho-stratigraphic log of the reservoirs in the Paris Basin.............................................. 6 Fig 4: effective thickness (m) of the Dogger reservoir in the Ile de France region .................. 7 Fig 5: isotherms of the Dogger reservoir in the Paris area (°C)................................................ 8 Fig 6: location of geothermal district heating plants in the vicinity of Paris ............................ 8 Fig 7: depth of the top of the Donnemarie sandstone over the Paris basin............................. 10 Fig 8: temperatures of the Donnemarie sandstone reservoir in the Paris basin ...................... 11 Fig 9: temperatures at the top of the Marin Rhaetien reservoir in the Paris basin.................. 12 Fig 10: location of the Aquitain basin on the France map ...................................................... 13 Fig 11: location of the main geological formations in the Aquitain Basin ............................. 14 Fig 12: location of the Limagne Graben on the French territory ............................................ 15 Fig 13: geological map of the Limagne Graben...................................................................... 15 Fig 14: temperatures of the S1-DET reservoir in the Limagne graben.................................. 16 Fig 15 : temperatures of the top of the S2-DET reservoir in the Limagne graben.................. 17 Fig 16: temperatures at the top of the S3-DET reservoir in the Limagne graben................... 18 Fig 17: location of the Rhine graben on the French territory.................................................. 19 Fig 18 : Location of the EGS Soultz site and geology of the Upper Rhine Graben ............... 20 Fig 19 : schematic NW-SE geologic cross section, ................................................................ 20 Fig 20 : Porosity and reservoir area of the Grande Oolithe .................................................... 22 Fig 21 : Map of temperature at the top of Buntsandstein in Rhine Graben ............................ 23 Fig 22 : location of the Rhône Graben and the Provence valley on the French territory....... 24 Fig 23: location of the more interesting spot for the geothermal development ...................... 25 Fig 24: location of the Bresse Basin on the French territory ................................................. 26 Fig 25: location of the French overseas department ............................................................... 28 Fig 26: location of the Bouillante geothermal area in Guadeloupe (A).................................. 28 Fig 27: location of the targets for geothermal development in Martinique ............................ 29 Fig 28: location of the geothermal drillings in La Reunion .................................................... 30 LISTE OF TABLES Table 1: characteristics of the heating plants in the Paris Basin ................................................ 9 Table 2: summary of the geothermal potential (in GJ/m²) in the Trias reservoirs................... 13 Table 3: temperatures of the Cretaceous and Jurassic formation in different regions ............. 14 3 / 33 1. Introduction France disposes of several very low-temperature to very high-temperature geothermal resources located at different depths, geographical locations and geological settings. The very low-temperature geothermal resources (below 30°C) are located in shallow layers and aquifers and are exploited with ground source heat pump or ground water heat pumps. These resources are scattered all over the territory but they represent a too low energy potential for the development of electricity production. They are not described in this report. The low-energy resources (between 65°C and 90°C) are located in aquifers contained in the major sedimentary basins, i.e the Paris Basin, the Aquitaine Basin, the Upper Rhine Graben, the Limagne and Bresse region, the Rhone corridor and the Mediterranean region but also in faulted or folded regions. (Fig 1) The geothermal resources with temperatures between 90°C and 150°C are in the course of evaluation. A very recent study, performed by BRGM and co-financed by ADEME1 , named CLASTIQ (CLAyed sandSTone In Question) explore new or poorly well-known deep silicoclastic geothermal reservoirs (Triassic reservoirs in Alsace and Paris Basin, Tertiary reservoirs in Limagne) with fluids temperatures around 80°C and 120°C. Fig 1: geological environment in France 1 French Agency for Environment and Energy Management 4 / 33 The resources higher than 150°C. are located in the Overseas Departments (the volcanic islands of the Antilles - Guadeloupe and Martinique – and the Indian Ocean - Reunion) and in the crystalline basement where injection of water in fractures and production of heated fluid leads to the concept of EGS (Soultz-sous-Forêt scientific pilot plant). This document focuses on the deep geothermal resources with temperatures between [65°C- 90°C] and [90°C-150°C} in the different regions in France and presents the available information about the thickness and the temperature of this potential geothermal reservoirs. The temperatures are those present at depth, they are different from the temperatures that will be encounter at surface. The difference between the bottom hole temperature and the wellhead temperature depends on the depth of the resource and the flow rate at which the fluid is extracted. 2. The sedimentary regions Low-energy resources, developed for thermal applications, are primarily located in the two major existing sedimentary basins: the Paris Basin and the Aquitaine. Other French regions have high potential for low-energy resources, but the geological structures are more complex