CONSTRUCTION of a new kind of geothermal power station will pass a major milestone this month with the completion of three boreholes running 5 kilometres into the granite bedrock beneath eastern France.
If the prototype power station is successful, it could lead to a string of similar plants that would make geothermal electricity available almost anywhere.
The station, at Soultz in Alsace, could be complete in less than two years’ time. When it is operating, cold water pumped down through one of three boreholes will be heated by the rocks underground and will emerge at around 200 °C. The superheated…
