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AMMAN — The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Harmony Investment Company to conduct a study on the exploitation of geothermal energy in the Risha gas field for electricity generation and use in industrial operations.
The MoU was signed by Energy Minister Saleh Kharabsheh and Harmony CEO Khalil Abul Robb, according to a ministry statement.
In his remarks after the signing ceremony, Kharabsheh said that the memorandum allows Harmony Investment Company to study the non-gas producing wells in the Risha field to become geothermal power producers, especially as they sit at depths where the underground temperature reaches up to 250 degrees Fahrenheit, characterised by a high earth temperature of up to 0.055 degrees Celsius/Metre.
He also stressed the importance of the memorandum in which the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the National Petroleum Company (NPC) and Harmony are involved in preparing the necessary studies at the technical, financial and administrative levels for the project to exploit previously excavated, non-gas-producing and, currently, unused dry wells.
NPC Director General Mohammed Khasawneh said that the study’s targeted area is known for very high thermal grading at a depth of 2,500 metres.
Harmony’s CEO said that his company aspires to conduct a feasibility study for the projects that seek to harness geothermal energy from abandoned wells via the transferring of geothermal temperatures to the surface through the “closed-loop” system.
