BEIJING, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's deepest geothermal exploration well, Fushenre-1, has been completed on Wednesday and is now ready for utilization, marking a milestone in the country's exploration of this underground renewable energy to advance its carbon reduction goal.
The well, situated in the southern Chinese island province of Hainan, has been drilled to an impressive subterranean depth of 5,200 meters, penetrating a granite formation that is 250 million years old, the Science and Technology Daily reported on Thursday.
Within this ancient structure, a geothermal resource with temperatures exceeding 188 degrees Celsius has been found, which is a significant discovery for the region's renewable energy potential.
Geothermal energy is a stable and low-carbon form of renewable energy with large reserves and widespread distribution, said Guo Xusheng, chief geologist of Sinopec.
After the successful drilling in April, Sinopec managed to fracture the rock, inject cold water and extract heat. The well is poised to be developed into a research and development platform for the industrial transformation of high-temperature geothermal resources.
Prior to this development, the utilization of geothermal resources in China was predominantly focused on shallow and medium-deep ones. The state-owned company has already established a geothermal heating capacity of nearly 100 million square meters and constructed several regional geothermal heating projects. ■
