Feasibility Study and LCoE Analysis of Geothermal Energy Production from Depleted Oil Fields and Gas Prospects Onshore Sarawak, Malaysia

Due to regulators’ determination to address climate change concerns and the necessity for a global CO₂ emissions reduction, renewable energy sources are now seen as preferable options. Geothermal energy has a long history of successful deployment and is a proven, dependable, ongoing, sustainable, and adaptable source of renewable energy that has very low CO₂ emissions over its project lifetime. However, there are always uncertainties associated with determining realistic ranges for values of the critical subsurface parameters such as geothermal gradients, aquifer size, transmissivity and geochemistry, when choosing an optimal location for geothermal energy extraction. This project focused on the Baram Basin located in the northern part of the state of Sarawak, Malaysia. Reservoir modelling was used to examine the viability of geothermal energy extraction utilizing publicly available analogue data. For both surface and downhole parameters, published data from existing active fields and recent exploration and appraisal efforts are used. In order to explore the economic feasibility for generating electricity from geothermal heat in this basin, various geothermal development scenarios were investigated both with and without injection wells using the reservoir simulation to determine net heat flow to the surface. The study’s findings compare the production’s enthalpy output estimations from simulations and examine how the LCoE is impacted by heat loss of produced fluids to surface. To investigate commercial competitiveness, different economic tools were run and sensitivity analysis was used to examine the major risk factors and indicate the expected thermal energy recovery ranges for profitable projects. The findings indicate that whilst there is significant geothermal potential in this basin, the challenges are to deploy reliable and cost-effective enabling technologies to deliver an economic return for investors.