How is HDR energy extracted?
Holes are drilled deep into the hot rocks, and water is forced down at high pressure, opening a network of natural fractures creating a permeable reservoir through which water can flow. Water is pumped through the hot fractured reservoir rocks and becomes very hot as it extracts heat from the rocks. The superheated water is returned to the surface via production wells, passed through a heat exchanger thereby heating and vaporizing a separate fluid circulating through the power plant which drives turbines in the plant to produce electricity. The water is returned to the first well and continually recycled.
