In a press release posted on its website this week, the Railroad Fee of Texas (RRC) mentioned it has issued its first allow for a deep geo-pressured, geothermal nicely to Sage Geosystems in Atascosa County.
“Positioned south of San Antonio within the Anaconcho Formation, this nicely allow marks a big milestone in Texas’ power sector as the primary deep geo-pressured, geothermal allow issued because the Texas Legislature transferred regulatory authority for all these wells from the Texas Fee on Environmental High quality to the RRC,” the RRC famous in its assertion.
The RRC mentioned within the assertion that the nicely can be utilized in electrical energy technology by the San Miguel Electrical Cooperative to serve its clients. Sage Geosystems has entered right into a land use settlement with the cooperative to develop a three-megawatt Geopressured Geothermal System power storage facility, the RRC added.
- Advertisement -
In its assertion, the RRC mentioned its regulatory framework “ensures that every one geothermal tasks adhere to rigorous environmental and security requirements whereas serving to develop this rising trade which has substantial ability and know-how overlap with oil and fuel trade”.
RRC Government Director Wei Wang mentioned within the assertion, “Texas has been on the forefront of power regulation and innovation for greater than a century, and this transition has streamlined the allowing course of for geothermal wells and strengthened the fee’s management in rising power applied sciences”.
“We stay devoted to adapting our regulatory strategy to facilitate the expansion of latest power applied sciences whereas upholding the very best requirements of environmental and public security as now we have completed for greater than a century,” Wang added.
Rigzone has requested the RRC if it anticipates issuing extra permits for geothermal wells this yr. On the time of writing, the RRC has not responded to Rigzone’s request.
In a press release posted on its website in October 2024, the RRC introduced that it had “new proposed guidelines for public remark to manage laws within the geothermal power entrance in Texas”.
“Senate Invoice 786 transfers regulatory authority of closed-loop geothermal injection wells from the Texas Fee on Environmental High quality to the Railroad Fee, permitting the RRC jurisdiction and allowing authority for all these wells,” the RRC mentioned in that assertion.
“The brand new guidelines particularly deal with shallow closed-loop geothermal programs, together with the related injection wells, that are used to warmth or cool buildings with out conversion to electrical energy,” it added.
“The RRC is the first company that has oversight of injection wells, and transferring regulatory authority for shallow closed-loop geothermal injection wells to the fee will streamline the method for operators who need to drill and function geothermal injection wells of this sort,” it continued.
“The proposed guidelines require engineering and infrastructure security measures to make sure safety of groundwater,” the RRC went on to state.
In that assertion, the RRC highlighted that the deadline for feedback was in November 2024.
The RRC notes on its web site that it regulates the exploration, growth, and manufacturing of geothermal power and related sources on private and non-private land for the aim of conservation and the safety of correlative rights.
Injection wells used for the manufacturing of geothermal or geopressured water and their by-products should be permitted by the RRC previous to starting injection, the RRC website states. It provides that, as of September 1, 2023, in accordance with Senate Invoice 786 of the 88th Legislature, all geothermal wells are beneath the jurisdiction of the fee, together with closed-loop geothermal wells that use the earth as a warmth sink to warmth or cool a construction.
The RRC additionally notes on its website that it’s the state company with major regulatory jurisdiction over the oil and pure fuel trade, pipeline transporters, pure fuel and dangerous liquid pipeline trade, pure fuel utilities, the LP-gas trade, important pure fuel infrastructure, and coal and uranium floor mining operations.
In a press release posted on its website earlier this month, the RRC introduced that it issued a complete of 666 unique drilling permits in January. The whole contains 607 to drill new oil or fuel wells, six to re-enter plugged wellbores, and 53 for re-completions, the RRC mentioned within the assertion.
In a separate assertion posted on its website in February, the RRC outlined that the preliminary reported complete quantity of crude oil in Texas was 119.46 million barrels in November 2024. The RRC famous in its assertion that crude oil manufacturing reported by the RRC is restricted to grease produced from oil leases and doesn’t embody condensate.
To contact the creator, e-mail andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com
