Geothermal resource assessment of remote sedimentary basins with sparse data: lessons learned from Anticosti Island, Canada

A geothermal resource assessment of Anticosti Island, Canada, reveals significant potential for low-temperature geothermal electricity generation despite sparse and low-quality data. The study developed a 3D temperature model for the Ordovician/Silurian sedimentary basin and its underlying Precambrian basement, predicting temperatures up to 40 km depth with high variability (up to 70% at mantle depth) due to uncertain thermal parameters. While geothermal electricity generation from reservoirs at 120 °C or more is challenging in the current technical and economic context, low-temperature direct use of geothermal heat (inlet temperature of 70 °C) could be feasible at depths of 2–4 km, albeit with a net efficiency of 10–11%. The study highlights the need for improved thermal property data, particularly for the Precambrian basement and specific lithologies in the sedimentary basin, to enhance temperature prediction accuracy.

Gascuel, V., Bédard, K., Comeau, F.-A., Raymond, J., & Malo, M. (2020). Geothermal resource assessment of remote sedimentary basins with sparse data: lessons learned from Anticosti Island, Canada. Geothermal Energy, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40517-020-0156-1