EGEC would like to announce that the winner of the Ruggero Bertani European Geothermal Innovation Award 2023 is Huisman Geo, with its innovative project Composite Downhole Tubulars.
Credit: European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC)
In early 2022, Huisman launched its full composite downhole tubulars system (HCT - Huisman Composite Tubulars). After years of development, the product is now successfully used in various applications such as geothermal, oil & gas, and carbon storage wells. An exceptional application for which the product is used, is in injection wells for highly corrosive carbonized salt water into basaltic bedrock, to capture the CO2. The innovation of the project lies in the fact that no full composite downhole tubulars were available before its launch. Additionally, the HCT system carries unique features, such as a full composite pipe body and strong yet slender threaded connections. Notably, it was also developed and tested specifically for downhole applications.
David Roodenburg, CEO of Huisman: “We would like to thank the Ruggero Bertani European Geothermal Innovation Award committee for recognising our company’s innovation and dedication to supporting the geothermal sector. It is an honour to receive this award, and we are proud that our product contributes to sustainable geothermal solutions.”
Huisman Composite Tubulars provide a smooth, corrosion free, and integer pathway for the lifetime of the wells (~30 years)—making them a reliable solution. In terms of emissions reduction, the production of Huisman Composite Tubulars saves between 25% to 50% CO2 emissions per meter of tubular, compared to steel tubular. What is more, there is significant reduction in pump losses and a huge cut in the need for (corrosion/scaling) inhibitors, saving approx. €100K per year for the operator and the related emissions with the production of such inhibitors.
Miklos Antics, President of the European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) and member of the jury, said “This is an important progress towards unlocking the geothermal decade as it will lead to modern well architectures, production costs optimisation, and last but not least significant improvement of sustainable operation of geothermal operations.”
The award has been handed out to the winner at the GEOTHERM Expo & Congress in Offenburg, which took place on the 2nd of March.As every year, the submitted projects were highly competitive. The finalists included:
- BRGM (France), with the project INHIBIOSOURCExpert
- ErdEis II-Research Group* (Germany), with the project ErdEis II: Frozen Soil Storage and Near-surface Geothermics
- Halliburton (Netherlands), with the project Geothermal Virtual Pump Intake Pressure
- Huisman Geo (Netherlands), with the project Composite Downhole Tubulars, winner of the award.
- Norwegian Well AS (Norway), with the projectCryoFLask
- ZerdaLab Ltd. (United Kingdom), with the project Manufacturable hi-spec drill bits design library
*ErdEis II-Research Group consortium: Schleswiger Stadtwerke GmbH, Energie PLUS Concept GmbH, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Technische Universität Dresden, RWTH Aachen University.
The jury for 2023 was composed of: Miklos Antics (EGEC President), Javier Urchueguia (Chairman geothermal panel RHC ETIP, UPV), Fausto Batini (Magma Energy, ETIP-DG President), Sandra Kircher (Head of Trade Fairs, Geotherm Expo&Congress), Gerdi Breembroek (IWG President), Kamila Izabella Piotrowska (EGEC Vice-president), Van Wees Jan-Diederik (ETIP DG Vice-chairman) and Sara Montomoli (EGEC Ordinary Member of the Board).
The Ruggero Bertani European Geothermal Innovation Award is an initiative of EGEC, the European Geothermal Energy Council, in collaboration with Messe Offenburg, organizers of the GeoTHERM Fair and Congress. It is given to companies which have made an outstanding contribution towards the field of geothermal energy in the form of innovative products, scientific research and project initiatives.