ABSTRACT
Geothermal reservoirs have been considered to possess tremendous potential to produce clean, low carbon footprint, and stable energy termed as “geothermal energy”. The heat extraction from these reservoirs, which are necessarily porous media at high temperature and pressure, located several miles beneath the ground, appears to be much more enchanting to the geotechnical fraternity. However, conventional heat extraction from the such reservoirs requires (i) capex-intensive construction of infrastructure, exploratory, and injection/production wells, and (ii) ready-to-employ subsurface data that is not so easy to obtain. This is where already drilled near-abandoned oil and gas wells, AOGWs are a blessing in disguise to harness geothermal energy over a prolonged duration. This paper particularly highlights (i) the research opportunities for geotechnical engineers in the field of geothermal energy from the AOGWs and (ii) the technical intricacies involved in converting the AOGWs into geothermal wells.
