Solid Energy is moving ahead with exploration work for coal seam gas in Taranaki, planning to drill seven exploration holes in the region by about March.Coal seam gas manager Grant Redman said the drilling programme in the northern part of the Stratford d
Solid Energy is moving ahead with exploration work for coal seam gas in Taranaki, planning to drill seven exploration holes in the region by about March.
Coal seam gas manager Grant Redman said the drilling programme in the northern part of the Stratford district and western part of Ruapehu district was similar to work done in north Taranaki to better understand the location of coal resources and potential for coal seam gas.
The latest round of exploratory drilling included measuring coal gas content and permeability, which was coal's ability to release the methane gas that occurred naturally in coal seams.
Drilling may reach depths of between 800m and 1500m. Apart from one well near Whangamonona, the wells would be fully cemented and areas rehabilitated once they had been drilled and tested.
Water samples would be collected from the Whangamonona well to begin preliminary work on managing the water produced in the coal seam gas production process, Solid Energy said.
Coal seam gas is a technology being developed around the world. It is extracted at low pressure and can be used for industrial energy, electricity generation or to supplement existing gas resources. The coal stays in the ground.
Solid Energy said it had so far generated electricity using a gas generator from a four well appraisal site in the Waikato, the first time electricity had been generated that way in this country.
Individual wells, which could each last 10 to 15 years, were connected with low pressure underground pipelines.
Any development of the Taranaki programme to the appraisal level would depend on results of exploration during the next two years.
