Kasumi Yasukawa (AIST) and Yoonho Song (KIGAM)
The 12th
Asian Geothermal Symposium (AGS12) was held at the Korea Institute of
Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), Daejeon, Korea on 10-12 November
2018, co-organized by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and
Technology (AIST) and KIGAM, with the support of the Asia-Western Pacific
Regional Branch (AWPRB) of IGA. AGS12 was attended by 85 participants, and had
the theme “Technology for geothermal energy use in harmony with society.” This
unique international symposium aims to encourage technical information exchange
to promote geothermal energy use in the world, especially in Asian region.
Prior to this symposium, a geothermal workshop “Geothermal
Direct Use for a Green Economy” was held by the International Energy
Agency-Geothermal Technology Collaboration Program (IEA Geothermal) on 9
November at the KIGAM campus. The participants visited Sejong Special
Autonomous City to see huge ground-source heat pump (GSHP) systems on 10
November. Then the AGS12 sessions followed on 11 and 12 November. Both AGS12
and IEA workshop were open to anyone who are interested in technology related
to geothermal energy use.
In the opening session of the AGS12 on Day 1
(11 November), a welcome speech was given by Dr. Yoonho Song on behalf of Dr.
Bok Chul Kim, President of KIGAM, stressing that AGS12 is held at special
occasion of KIGAM’s 70th anniversary of its foundation, and 100th
anniversary of the Korea Geological Survey. Dr. Kasumi Yasukawa, AIST, gave the
opening notes, mentioning that it is the second time to hold AGS in KIGAM and
that since the last time in 2004, AIST and KIGAM have been co-sponsoring AGS
with a strong partnership. During the lunch time of Day 1, the Annual General
Meeting of AWPRB-IGA was held at the venue led by Dr. Toshihiro Uchida, AIST.
Topical sessions in AGS12 are “Resource
Assessment” session on Day 1 and “Social Aspect” session on Day 2. The former
included eight presentations from eight countries, followed by discussion on
geothermal play types, led by Dr. Inga Moeck, Germany. This is the first time
to provide a discussion session in AGS symposia. The concept of “play type” has
its origin in petroleum industry and was introduced to geothermal industry
rather recently. The categorization of geothermal reservoirs in play types
seems to be quite hard, especially for high enthalpy reservoirs, but it may be
better to start discussion worldwide. The latter, “Social aspect” session
consists of only three presentations, but each of them is quite unique and
suitable for the theme of AGS12. The first presentation was given by Dr. Adele
Manzella, Italy, an invited speaker by KIGAM, titled “Dissemination and social
studies for geothermal market uptake in Italy.” The session of “Social aspect”
was introduced to the AGS symposia for the first time. For the program of
AGS12, please visit our website:
https://www.aist.go.jp/Portals/0/fukushima/images/event/AGS12/AGS12_Program_ver3.pdf
On 10 November, AGS12 participants visited
Sejong Special Autonomous City to see gigantic GSHP systems in the City Hall
and research institute buildings. It should be noted that most of the
government buildings have been moved from Seoul to Sejong recently. The
government building complex in Sejong is divided into three zones and total
building area reaches 607,555 m2. Total installed capacity of GSHP
exceeds 20 MWth and covers more than 38% of heating and cooling load
of the buildings. 70% of geothermal energy extraction is from borehole heat
exchangers through 1190 boreholes of 200 m deep; the total length of all the
wells reaches 238 km. 30% of heat exchangers are using ground water wells of
around 400 m deep. Zone 1 of the building complex started its operation in
2012, Zone 2 in 2013 and Zone 3 was completed in 2014. GSHP for other public
buildings including the City Hall, research institute buildings, etc., in
Sejong City have also been recently installed.
After visiting Sejong, AGS12 participants
enjoyed a short trip to Gapsa Temple in Gongju, where autumn color and
traditional Korean architecture welcomed them.
All technical papers presented in AGS12 are
uploaded to the IGA Geothermal Paper Database. Organizers are very grateful to
IEA Geothermal because holding AGS symposia in conjunction with the IEA
geothermal workshop attracted many participants from Asia, Oceania, Europe and
North America.