Al-Dou i, Y.; Waheeb, S. A.; Johan, Mohd Ra ie
A icle
Exploi ing o geo he mal ene gy ese e and po en ial in
Saudi A abia: A case s udy a Ain Al Ha ah
Ene gy Repo s
P o ided in Coope a ion wi h:
Else ie
Sugges ed Ci a ion: Al-Dou i, Y.; Waheeb, S. A.; Johan, Mohd Ra ie (2019) : Exploi ing o geo he mal
ene gy ese e and po en ial in Saudi A abia: A case s udy a Ain Al Ha ah, Ene gy Repo s, ISSN
2352-4847, Else ie , Ams e dam, Vol. 5, pp. 632-638,
h ps://doi.o g/10.1016/j.egy .2019.05.005
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Resea ch pape
Exploi ing o geo he mal ene gy ese e and po en ial in Saudi A abia:
A case s udy a Ain Al Ha ah
Y. Al-Dou i a,b,c,∗, S.A. Waheeb d, Mohd Ra ie Johan b
aUni e si y Resea ch Cen e , Cihan Uni e si y, Sulaimaniya - 46002, I aq
bNano echnology and Ca alysis Resea ch Cen e (NANOCAT), Uni e si y o Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpu , Malaysia
cDepa men o Mecha onics Enginee ing, Facul y o Enginee ing and Na u al Sciences, Bahcesehi Uni e si y, 34349, Besik as, Is anbul, Tu key
dDepa men o Enginee ing Sciences, Communi y College, Umm Al-Qu a Uni e si y, PO Box 715, Makkah 21955, Saudi A abia
a icle in o
A icle his o y:
Recei ed 13 Ma ch 2018
Recei ed in e ised o m 8 Oc obe 2018
Accep ed 24 May 2019
A ailable online xxxx
Keywo ds:
Geo he mal
Ene gy
Po en ial
Saudi A abia
abs ac
Saudi A abia is en iched by geo he mal esou ces and ela ed o he ec onic ac i i y o Red Sea,
olcanic ocks and idges. The geo he mal ene gy ese e, po en ial and hei ese e o possible
ene gy p oduc ion a e in es iga ed. Nowadays, p oduc ion p ocess o c ude oil accompanied wi h
la ing o gases esul in excessi e CO2emissions. I he g ow h a e o na ional oil consump ion
con inues, local demand will be doubled wi hin a decade. The s udy o geo he mal ene gy is co e ed.
A selec ion o possible applica ions o geo he mal u u es is discussed. Fu he mo e, he s udy has
ocused on necessi y o main aining g een and clean en i onmen as well as clima e o lowes dus
con en .
©2019 The Au ho s. Published by Else ie L d. This is an open access a icle unde he CC BY license
(h p://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by/4.0/).
1. In oduc ion
The geo he mal p oduc ion o hea and powe depends on
he dep h o ese oi s (Islam and Dince ,2017). Hyd o he mal
sys ems wi h empe a u e mo e han 179.85 ◦C a e ound nea
he bounda ies o pla e ec onic (Anon,2014). Geo he mal ene gy
sou ces can be ca ego ized as, low- empe a u es below 89.85 ◦C,
mode a e empe a u es be ween 89.85–149.85 ◦C and high em-
pe a u es abo e 149.85 ◦C (Coskun e al.,2011). The geo he mal
ields can be exploi ed o bo h powe gene a ions and di ec use
o hea unde app op ia e condi ions. I is known ha geo he mal
ene gy has a minimum emission o CO2and ega ds a clean
ene gy. I s gene a ion o elec ici y ia geo he mal ene gy ouches
11000 MWe (Be ani,2010) and e lec s he geo he mal bene i s
o powe gene a ion. The geo he mal ene gy looks en i onmen-
al iendly, i s plan s emi 0.893 kg CO2/MWh, while oil-based
powe plan s emi 817 kg CO2/MWh and gas-based powe plan s
emi 193 kg CO2/MWh (Chand asekha am and Bundschuh,2008).
Taleb (2009) has e iewed a geo he mal esou ce ha ep-
esen s a clean and enewable sou ce o ene gy, i has been
used o gene a e elec ici y since 1904. Despi e a ailabili y o
some esou ces- ich geo he mal loca ions, Kingdom o Saudi A a-
bia (KSA) has no unde aken any se ious geo he mal p ojec s.
∗Co esponding au ho a : Nano echnology and Ca alysis Resea ch Cen e
(NANOCAT), Uni e si y o Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpu , Malaysia.
E-mail add ess: [email p o ec ed] (Y. Al-Dou i).
I is aimed o iden i y he eal ba ie s hinde ing he u iliza-
ion o geo he mal esou ces in KSA. While, Alsheh y and Bel-
loumi (Alsheh y and Belloumi,2015) ha e in es iga ed dynamic
causal ela ionships be ween ene gy consump ion, ene gy p ice
and economic ac i i ies in KSA using Johansen mul i a ia e co-
in eg a ion app oach wi h CO2emissions as he con ol a iable.
The esul s ha e showed he e is a long- e m ela ionship be-
ween economic g ow h, ene gy consump ion, CO2emission and
ene gy p ice. And, Al ashed and Asi (Al ashed and Asi ,2012)
ha e indica ed ha almos 70% o o al p ojec s in KSA’s con-
s uc ion sec o a e ela ed o esiden ial buildings. I is u he
es ima ed ha 2.32 million new homes a e o be buil by 2020 in
o de o mee he demand o g owing popula ion. They ha e de-
ailed accoun o ene gy p o ile o KSA. In his espec , hey ha e
in es iga ed he po en ial o a ious enewable ene gy op ions o
p o ide g een ene gy and p o ided ecommenda ions o p omo e
he use o enewable ene gy sou ces in he KSA.
This wo k aims o esea ch he geo he mal ene gy ese e
es ima ion and po en ial o KSA o o se p edic ed i s abundance
and sho ages in he upcoming decades conce ned wi h de ec ing
sou ces o a ising geo he mal wa e , de ec ing eed zones, e ec -
ing s uc u al elemen s and possible condi ion sys em, ollowed
by geo he mal pa ame e s o subsu ace o ma ion empe a u e,
discha ge en halpy and hea low wi h a ocus on Ain Al Ha ah
ho sp ing si e and ad an ageous analysis o echnical easibili y
o assessmen and de elopmen o Ain Al Ha ah. To bes o
ou knowledge, his is a i s se ious s udy will be added o he
li e a u e o geo he mal ene gy, esou ces, geologic se ing and
h ps://doi.o g/10.1016/j.egy .2019.05.005
2352-4847/©2019 The Au ho s. Published by Else ie L d. This is an open access a icle unde he CC BY license (h p://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by/4.0/).
Y. Al-Dou i, S.A. Waheeb and M.R. Johan / Ene gy Repo s 5 (2019) 632–638 633
Nomencla u e
GCC Gul Coope a ion Council
KSA Kingdom o Saudi A abia
p.u. Po osi y Uni s
RE Renewable Ene gy
geophysical su ey po en ial in KSA. This s udy is di ided in o
ollowings: Sec ion 2s udies he geo he mal ene gy, ollowed
by geo he mal esou ces, geologic se ing, geophysical su eys
and geo he mal ese e es ima ion and po en ial in Sec ions 3–6,
espec i ely. The conclusions a e summa ized in Sec ion 7.
2. Geo he mal ene gy
Powe eaches highes poin s o a couple o hou s pe day
and couple o mon hs pe yea . Fig. 1 shows la es g ow h in
numbe o consume s in KSA o he las wo decades, whe e i is
p edic ed ha ene gy equi emen s each 60 GW/yea by 2020.
I is e iden ha gene a ion and ansmission capaci ies will no
be able o mee demand in nea u u e, causing o e loads o
he elec ici y company (A ou i e al.,2012). The p esen pe -
capi a ene gy consump ion in KSA is al eady highe han hose
o mos indus ial and de eloped na ions. Fig. 2 explo es a ious
ca ego ies o consump ion in pe cen age o dis ibu ion o di e -
en sec o s. The cos s o u ili y a e escala ing along wi h d op-in
oil p ices, mo e escala ion is expec ed o be he e wi h g owing
demand on oil. The concep o conse ing ene gy is inc easingly
in o impo an issue (A ou i e al.,2012;Waqas e al.,2018).
Geo he mal ene gy is a na u al ene gy esou ce ha has no
been well explo ed in KSA due o lack o suppo i e in as uc-
u e, specialized p o essionals, awa eness and echnical in o -
ma ion (Tahe and Haja ,2014;Chand asekha am e al.,2014).
Since he geo he mal well is he deepe , he e is a possibil-
i y o accessing bo h s eam and/o ho wa e h ough a pipe
connec ion o use i s la en hea o ene gy exploi a ion, gi en
ha such wells’ dep hs ange be ween 1–2 miles. Geo he mal
wells can o e al e na e o ms o applica ions. The ollowing
p e iew lis s he pe cen ages o majo di ec applica ions ela ed
o geo he mal ene gy p ojec s; hea pumps geo he mal: 54.4%,
balneology/ba hing: 19.1%, g een houses: 5%, in e io s hea ing o
buildings: 15.4, aquacul u e: 2.2%, indus ial: 1.7%, snow mel -
ing: 1.3%, ag icul u al: 1.6% and miscellaneous: 0.3% (Lund e al.,
2005). The e is also a hea exchange uni o pipes o be bu ied
down wi hin he g ound o he ele an building ha is in ended
o use. In cold seasons, hea is aken om he hea exchange
by i ue o ins alled hea pump and deli e ed o he indoo ai
in ake. A wa ming ac ion is ob ained o he inne space. While,
in ho seasons, he p ocess is e e sed wi hin he hea pump i sel
and he es o sys em componen s esul ing in o a cooling ac ion
o he building inne space (Dell and Rand,2004).
In geo he mal p ac ice and s a ions, supe hea ed s eam is
needed o gene a ing elec ical powe . Fig. 3 illus a es he h ee
ypes o geo he mal s a ions and cycles. The i s ype is called
he ‘‘D y S eam’’ plan whe e pipes ca y he s eam a ailable in a
geo he mal well o ese oi o each he u bine o o ’s blades.
In he second ype, he boiling wa e o geo he mal well (which is
unde high p essu e oo) is aken ou and made o e apo a e in o
s eam and he es is same as in he i s ype. This is called ‘‘Flash
S eam’’ plan . Being a sus ainable p ocess, he wa e condensed
nex o o a ing u bine’s o o is injec ed back o geo he mal
well. The hi d ype uses ano he medium o ans e he hea
om ho geo he mal wa e o medium p oducing ho s eam ha
Fig. 1. Consume g ow h o e he i s wo decades o hi d millennium.
Fig. 2. Pe cen age dis ibu ion o consump ion ca ego ies in KSA.
is ca ied ou he ac ion o o a ing u bine’s o o . This ype is
called ‘‘Bina y’’.
The e is nei he ha m ul concen a ion o gases no ca bon
dioxide emissions go agains he egula ions ollowed o he
global wa ming phenomena. Addi ionally, no ca bon dioxide is
emi ed by geo he mal acili ies, while s eam and lash plan s’
emission o ca bon dioxide a e much lesse han plan s using
ossil uels, based on each MWh p oduced, hence he ‘‘sus ainable
and clean’’ allo ed o geo he mal s a ions and echnology (DiP-
ippo,2008).
The in e p e a ion o elec ic esis i i y da a esul ed in a
numbe o pseudoelec ics and geoelec ics. These a e mainly
conce ned wi h de ec ing sou ces o a ising geo he mal wa e ,
de ec ing eed zones, e ec ing s uc u al elemen s and possi-
ble condi ion sys em. I is indica ed ha Ain Al Ha ah (La i-
ude: 20◦29N and longi ude: 40◦28E as p esen ed in Table 1)
has in e p e ed geoelec ic p o ile. Gene ally, he geo he mal lu-
ids/sys ems a e indica ed by he low esis i i y in he in e p e ed
esis i i y p o ile. A good geo he mal ese oi olume wi h a
hickness, 23 m (dep hs 9.20–32 m) is ound a middle o esis i -
i y p o ile. I ep esen s a good geo he mal ese oi ha ex ends
mo e han 80 min he NE di ec ion. A high esis i i y upli (216–
1866 ohm.m) is indica ed. I exhibi s NW–SE ending esis i i y
p o ile and shows one o he majo subsu ace s uc u al elemen s
ha con ol he mo emen and ascending o geo he mal wa e in
Ain Al Ha ah a ea (Waqas e al.,2018;Chand asekha am e al.,
2014).
634 Y. Al-Dou i, S.A. Waheeb and M.R. Johan / Ene gy Repo s 5 (2019) 632–638
Fig. 3. The main ypes o geo he mal plan echnologies.
3. Geo he mal esou ces
Due o p e ailing global ene gy issues and ecu ing c ises,
i may be ag eed ha each coun y would be e pu sui i s
own esou ces o enewable ene gy pa e ns whe he sola , wind
o geo he mal. Fo KSA, he e a e bo h geo he mal and sola
ene gies may be ha nessed o p oduce bo h wa e and elec ical
powe o mee he KSA’s demands (Ok un and Sayigh,1976).
The s a us o geo he mal esou ces o KSA is ‘‘un apped’’, while
epo has alked abou en loca ions o ho sp ings ound in Al-
Li h egion. Fu he mo e, he e is a as olcanic zone ound in
Table 1
The physical p ope ies o he mal sp ings in KSA.
La i ude Longi ude Temp.
(◦C)
Flow a e
(kg/s)
Ain Khulab (Jizan) 16◦45′N 43◦07E 75.5 0.016–0.32
Ain Khulab Quwa (Jizan) 16◦48′N 43◦12E 59.0 0.32
Ain Al Wag ah (Jizan) 17◦03′N 42◦59E 55.0 0.24
Ain Al Wag ah Dam (Jizan) 17◦03′N 42◦59E 59.0 0.32
Ain Al Ha a (Al-Li h) 20◦29′N 40◦28E 79.0 0.064–0.08
Ain Al Jumah (Al-Li h) 20◦18′N 40◦42E 46.0 0.0048
Ain Ma kus (Al-Li h) 20◦33′N 40◦09E 46.0 0.0048
Ain Al Da akah (Al-Li h) 20◦39′N 40◦01E 39.5 0.0016
wes e n pa o KSA (Rehman and Shash,2005). Eigh o KSA
dis inguished ho sp ings has been lis ed in Table 1 wi h hei
p ope ies along wi h empe a u e and low a e ep esen ing he
amoun o hea low om dep h and up o su ace.
Rehan e al. (2018) ha e p esen ed an assessmen o enew-
able ene gy p oduc ion om sou ces a ailable in KSA o en-
e gy gene a ion and solu ion. Howe e , he e a e challenges in
comme cializa ion o na u al esou ces o enewable acili ies
including geo he mal, was e collec ion, impu i ies and o he s.
While, enewable ene gy (RE) sou ces could be used o se e
cen alized sys ems in u ban cen e s and hus p o ide an op-
po uni y o make g eene , hey a e mos ly used o se e u al
communi ies o he g id. In 1256 A.D. a olcanic e up ion was
eco ded in he ci y o Al Madina e en ually lea ing wha locals
call ‘‘Ha a s’’ o ields o se led olcanic la a (Fig. 4). These
‘‘Ha a s’’ exhibi ac i i ies o geo he mal na u e in he o m o
ho sp ings wi h p ominen s eam emission and shallow wells
o conside ably ho wa e s (Roobol e al.,2007). All geo he mal
esou ces a e easily accessible (Alna hee ,2005). Al-Saleh e al.
(2008) ha e de eloped a ew scena ios o enewable ene gy.
Thei s udy has conside ed geo he mal p ospec s and o e ed
hope ul app oach o unde s anding he ha dships ha c ea e
ba ie s hinde ing he u iliza ion o KSA’s esou ces o geo he mal
ene gy (Al-Saleh,2007).
Geo he mal pa ame e s o subsu ace o ma ion empe a u e,
discha ge en halpy and hea low a e in e p e ed based on e-
sul s o geo he mome e da a. The subsu ace empe a u e shows
egula dis ibu ion o subsu ace empe a u e o Ain Al Ha ah
ho sp ing. A much highe ange o subsu ace empe a u e, 95–
152 ◦C is indica ed o he ho sp ing. This is clea ly indica ed by
he a eas occupied by Ain Al Ha ah ho sp ing. The maximum
alue o subsu ace empe a u e, 151.4 ◦C is exhibi ed by Ain Al
Ha ah ho sp ing. The discha ge en halpy assigns high en halpy
alues o ho sp ing, 180–255 kJ/kg and low en halpy alues
o su ounding wa e wells, wi h a gene al end o dec easing
owa ds he sho e line, 100–160 kJ/kg. The hea low dis ibu ion
ensu es he same concluded esul s om he discha ge en halpy
and subsu ace empe a u e da a. Good and high hea low alues
a e ecognized in he a ea o Ain Al Ha ah ho sp ing. The
eco ded hea low alues as high as 210 mW/M2(Roobol e al.,
2007;Al-Saleh e al.,2008).
4. Geologic se ing
KSA is di ided in o wo geological p o inces. The wes e n a ea
consis s o c ys alline igneous and me amo phic ocks, o p e-
sumed P e-Camb ian age, opog aphically and s uc u ally slop-
ing o he no heas , eas and sou heas . The eas e n a ea has
eas e ly dipping sedimen a y ocks o e lying he basal igneous
and me amo phic complex. These sedimen s consis o Paleo-
zoic, Mesozoic (nea ly comple e sec ion), Te ia y and ecen
deposi s. The a ea is subdi ided in o Nejd and Hassa (A abian
Gul ) sub-p o inces. The eas e n pa s o Nejd subp o ince con-
sis o sedimen a y ocks, anging in age om ea ly Paleozoic o
Y. Al-Dou i, S.A. Waheeb and M.R. Johan / Ene gy Repo s 5 (2019) 632–638 635
Fig. 4. The geog aphical layou o Ha a s in he wes e n egion o KSA (Al-Dayel,1988).
ea ly Eocene. These sedimen s consis o al e na ing calca eous
and clas ic acies. Di e ences in he ela i e esis ance o hese
ocks a e esponsible o smoo h, gen ly dipping slopes o he eas
and unca ed wes - acing esca pmen s on he o he . Examples
o hese esis an ocks a e ound in he Ju assic s a a o Tuwaiq
moun ains which ex end in he no h–sou h di ec ion. Ano he
example is he A uma Pla eau, capped by esis an limes one o
Uppe C e aceous age. The e is an absence o ma ked al i udinal
a ia ions in he Nejd sedimen a y ocks, and, hence, he a he
uni o m homoclinal dip has been p ese ed. In he Hassa sub-
p o ince he ou c opping ocks a e limi ed o he Te ia y and
la e ; hese include he lowe and middle Eocene, and Miocene o
Pliocene. The Eocene ocks a e almos en i ely calca eous, excep
one local anhyd i e membe on he coas o he A abian Gul . The
Miocene and Pliocene s a a a e p ima ily con inen al deposi s,
excep o some in e cala ed ma ine beds. The la e is composed
o ma ls, clays, sands and hin limes one, whe e hey co e he
Eocene sedimen s in mos o Hassa p o ince (Te iki,1947).
Wadi Al-Li h is a ca chmen a ea and conside ed an in eg al
pa o A abian shield. I ex ends om he wes e n coas o Red
Sea o he high moun ains in he eas . The a ea is mainly co e ed
by me a olcanic ocks, me asedimen s and la e P o e ozoic plu-
onic ocks. Fou majo ock uni s we e ound co e ing abou 91%
o Wadi Al-Li h ca chmen a ea (Fig. 5).

636 Y. Al-Dou i, S.A. Waheeb and M.R. Johan / Ene gy Repo s 5 (2019) 632–638
Fig. 5. Geologic maps o Wadi Al-Li h a ea showing Ain Al Ha ah ho sp ing (Mu le ,1978).
5. Geophysical su eys
The geophysics is o s udy g a i a ional, magne ic, elec ical
and seismic- eloci y p ope ies o ea h’s su ace and in e io .
Geo he mal po en ial can be explo ed using a ie y o geophys-
ical and geochemical (geo- he mome e ) echniques which a e
no mally used in geo- echnical and geological in es iga ions as
well as in he explo a ion o hyd oca bons in he oil indus-
y (Al-A i i e al.,2012). These echniques p o ide he necessa y
in o ma ion o cons uc ing a ealis ic model o geo he mal sys-
em and assessing he po en ial o esou ce. Elec ic esis i i y is
ela ed o a ious geological pa ame e s such as mine al and luid
con en , po osi y and deg ee o wa e sa u a ion in he ock (Loke,
0000).
A numbe o wo-dimensional elec ic p o iles was pe o med
a he loca ion o ho sp ings in Wadi Al-Li h a ea. The syscal-R1
sys em (IRIS ins umen s) wi h 72 mul i-elec odes sys em, wi h
4 x 18 elec ode cables was used o conduc ing he ield su eys
ia di e en elec ode spacing (1 m, 3 m, 5 m and 10 m) (Loke,
0000). Geophysical su eying is one o he impo an unc ions o
Saudi geological su ey and has applica ions in many aspec s o
wo k by he Saudi geologic su ey. I is used o loca e small phys-
ical a ge s such as pipe-lines and concen a ions o me allic o es;
o loca e mo e sub le a ge s like zones o clay al e a ion a ound
mine al deposi s o bounda ies and hicknesses o unde g ound
wa e ese oi s; and o in es iga e la ge-scale phenomena as
po en ial mo emen o magma in he Ea h’s c us . The d i o he
A abian Peninsula mo es away om A ica, and he sou ces and
in ensi ies o ea hquakes a ec he egion (Geophysics in Saudi
A abia,2010).
The main objec i e o explo a ion geophysics is o map he
s uc u es ha a e o po en ial economic impo ance, o con-
ol he loca ion o o e deposi s and pe oleum ese oi s. In
geologic mapping, geophysics is commonly used o di e en ia e
ock ypes and cha ac e ize hei con ac s. In ield o geohaza ds
and en i onmen , geophysics is used o measu e ea u es such
as magni ude and loca ion o ea hquakes and ea hquake epi-
cen e s, and le els o na u ally occu ing adia ion. Geophysical
me hods a e con ibu ed signi ican ly o geologic mapping and
explo a ion o hyd oca bons, mine als and aqui e s in KSA, and
aided he disco e y o se e al o e deposi s o economic signi i-
cance in he A abian shield. Fo geo he mal esou ce a ailabili y,
Y. Al-Dou i, S.A. Waheeb and M.R. Johan / Ene gy Repo s 5 (2019) 632–638 637
i is men ioned o compa ison in some o GCC coun ies (Kazem,
2011;Yousse e al.,2012) and has pu he abundance o KSA.
A echnical easibili y analysis o he possible assessmen and
de elopmen o Ain Al Ha ah is made. This analysis is p elimi-
na y in na u e because i is based solely on su ace explo a ion.
A mo e speci ic p ojec easibili y s udy ha conside s powe
plan and ield design and ope a ion will be conduc ed when
he esul s o he explo a o y d illing and es ing p og am a e
comple ed (Geophysics in Saudi A abia,2010). The app op ia e
echnology o Ain Al Ha ah can be de e mined once he e-
sou ce is be e cons ained. Fu he mo e, he e a e h ee majo
echnologies commonly used o gene a e elec ici y om Ain Al
Ha ah. The h ee ypes a e:
- D y s eam: uses geo he mal s eam di ec ly om a geo he -
mal ese oi ha has a ac u e sys em ha is en i ely s eam,
220–245 ◦C.
- Flash: geo he mal s eam is sepa a ed om ho wa e a he
su ace. The s eam is deli e ed o a s eam u bine, while wa e
phase is e-injec ed in o geo he mal ese oi , 200–330 ◦C.
- Bina y cycle: uses a seconda y ‘wo king’ luid (bina y luid)
wi h a lowe boiling empe a u e han wa e , such as ammonia
(Kalina cycle). Hea om geo he mal luid causes bina y luid o
lash o apo ia a hea exchange , and bina y apo is sen
h ough he u bine o gene a e powe .
Rega ding Ain Al Ha ah, he ho sp ing is loca ed opog aph-
ically in a low o medium accessible a ea ha has good ac u e
sys em and good he mal g adien s ha allow hea o low and
be ex ac ed mo e easily o he su ace. Since he minimum
empe a u e o bina y plan s is 120 ◦C, Kalina cycle seems o be
he mos app op ia e design o ene gy p oduc ion om Ain Al
Ha ah (Kazem,2011).
6. Geo he mal ese e es ima ion and po en ial
Geo he mal ese es a e de ined as quan i ies o he mal en-
e gy which a e expec ed o be eco e ed om known ese oi s
o a gi en da e o wa d. The ese e is pa o he esou ces which
is cu en ly known and cha ac e ized by d illing, geochemical,
geophysical and geological e idence and could be legally ex-
ac ed (Mu le and Ca aldi,1978). The mos common app oach
o geo he mal ese e es ima ion is he olume ic me hod. This
me hod is mainly u ilized in he las s ages o geo he mal ex-
plo a ion as well as he ea ly s ages o ield de elopmen o
jus i y d illing and commi men o a speci ied powe plan size.
I may be used i good su ace indica ions and geophysical su -
eys a e a ailable (Clo wo hy e al.,2006). I can be applied
be e han nume ical modeling, which equi es a signi ican
numbe o wells and p oduc ion his o y o be conside ed eli-
ably (Sa mien o and S eing imsson,2008). In gene al, he ese -
oi pa ame e s o geo he mal- ese e es ima ion a e ga he ed
om analyses o empe a u e da a and o he geophysical and
geochemical in e p e a ions.
Geo he mal- ese e es ima ion was ca ied ou o e alua ing
he possible geo he mal capaci ies o Ain Al Ha ah ho sp ing
based on he ollowing equa ions;
E =E +E =V(1 −Φ)ρ C (Ti−T0)+VΦρwCw(Ti−T0) (1)
whe e E is o al he mal, ene gy uni (J) in he ock (E ) and
luid (E ), Φis ese oi po osi y (%), Vis ese oi olume (m3),
ρ ,w is densi ies o ock and wa e (kg/m3), espec i ely, Ti,0is
ini ial ese oi and e e ence empe a u es (◦C), espec i ely.
This s o ed he mal ene gy can be con e ed in o powe po en ial
using (Mu le and Ca aldi,1978):
Powe Po en ial (MW ) =E RF CE
PL LF (2)
Table 2
Rese oi pa ame e s used o geo he mal ese e es ima ion.
P ope y Uni Value
Rese oi Volume
Po osi y
km3
%
1.28
4
Densi y Rock
Wa e
kg/m3
kg/m3
2800
980
Hea capaci y Rock
Wa e
J/kg ◦C
J/kg ◦C
1000
4200
Tempe a u e Ini ial
Re e ence
◦C
◦C
95
45
whe e RF is eco e y ac o , CE is con e sion e iciency, PL is
geo he mal plan li e in yea s and LF is load ac o . Assuming he
ollowing pa ame e s;
•A ese oi a ea, 4.8 km2(1.2 ×4.0 km2) and olume, 1.28
km3a e p o iding a ese oi hickness o 250 m as concluded
om he in e p e a ion o esis i i y da a.
•An ini ial empe a u e, 95 ◦C was eco ded o he geo he -
mal ese oi .
•A e e ence empe a u e, 45 ◦C was sugges ed (due o highe
a e age annual su ace empe a u e in KSA).
•The po e olume ange was 3–5 p.u. (po osi y uni s) o he
ac u ed g ani ic ocks (a e age alue o 4 p.u. (po osi y uni s)).
•The densi y ange was 0.0027–0.0029 kg/m3(a e age alue
o 2.80 g/cc).
The di e en ese oi pa ame e s we e de i ed om analyses
o empe a u e and geo- he mome e da a ha can be used in
he mal ene gy es ima ion as gi en in Table 2. Acco ding o hese
pa ame e s and by u ilizing in Eq. (1), he o al s o ed hea ene gy
o Ain Al Ha ah geo he mal a ea is ound o be 1.713 ×1017 J
(1.34 ×1016 J o he mal luids and 1.57 ×1017 J o ese oi
ock) (Clo wo hy e al.,2006).
The o al s o ed hea ene gy o Ain Al Ha ah ho sp ing can
be con e ed in o powe ene gy uni s (megawa he mal using
Eq. (2)) o possible ene gy p oduc ion and o he low-geo he mal
u iliza ions (Mu le and Ca aldi,1978). Assuming a eco e y
ac o o 0.2, which is ac ual (no mal ac o o geo he mal ese -
oi s), u bine con e sion e iciency o 0.47 ha is ealis ic (ini ial
empe a u e/ ese oi empe a u e) plan li e o 20 yea s and
load ac o o 0.95, he he mal powe po en ial o Ain Al Ha ah
geo he mal ese oi is 26.99 MW . This geo he mal ese e is
conside ed p omising and can be used o p o iding Al-Li h a ea
wi h elec ici y (clean ene gy) on a long- e m basis (Lashin e al.,
2015). We s ongly ecommend exploi ing geo he mal sys em o
gene a e elec ici y o he i s ime in KSA using a powe plan
ha p ocesses he mal luid and boils a low empe a u e (Lashin,
2012). Su ace geology and geophysical da a could p o ide in-
o ma ion compa ible wi h a ci cula ion o luids in a complex
sys em o ac u e ela ed o a leas wo p incipal di ec ions.
This is well o demons a e he p e ailing s uc u al elemen s
ha may con ol he whole geo he mal sys em in he a ea. The
ou pu s show a clea high esis i i y anomaly loca ed a ound
2000 m om opog aphic su ace, which is mos likely linked o
he geo he mal anomaly a he si e. The anomaly is o ien ed along
a no hwes –sou heas di ec ion, which is he main s uc u al
end o he Red Sea i . Se e al ac u es a e u he obse ed
in he imaged olume up o an app oxima e dep h o 500 m.
A ha shallowe dep h, he geo he mal anomaly changes g ad-
ually o a ing owa ds a no h-sou h end. This means ha he
main ac u e zones con ol he geo he mal sys em and exhibi
a ia ions in azimu h and dip a di e en dep hs. Such a ia ions
may be ela ed o he combina ion o p incipal s esses and aul
sys ems linked o he Red Sea i (Lashin,2012). The iden i ica-
ion o a eas o po en ial geo he mal in e es (Al-Dayel,1988) and
638 Y. Al-Dou i, S.A. Waheeb and M.R. Johan / Ene gy Repo s 5 (2019) 632–638
imp o ed es ima es o geo he mal esou ce base and eco e able
esou ces (Mu le ,1978) a e in acco dance wi h ou assessmen
o geo he mal ene gy ese e and po en ial.
7. Conclusions
The geo he mal po en ial o a ailable geo he mal esou ces in
KSA has been e-e alua ed and in es iga ed. Al e na i e me h-
ods o mee KSA equi emen s o ene gy ha e been explo ed.
The consume g ow h a e inc easing is associa ed wi h li es yle
changes. I has been demons a ed ha o he ypes o echnolo-
gies such as he mal sys ems a e app op ia e, wi h o e all cos
conside ed easonable. I is ecommended o di ec in es men
owa ds he de elopmen o in as uc u e o enewable ene gy
in e ms o localized o sha ed plan s wi h ample s o age capac-
i ies o se e he escala ing demands. All he p ocesses ha e he
po en ial o con ibu e o ul illing he coun y’s demands o
being a pa o an e ec i e plan o educing CO2emissions.
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