GEMEx

EU-H2020 project on the potential analysis of geothermal energy use in Mexico
Aufgezeichnete Erdbeben in Los Humeros
Location of the seismicity recorded in the Los Humeros geothermal field during the one-year monitoring (09-2017 - 09-2018). Three zones (orange circles) were known as active zones, two new zones (purple circles) have been identified.
3D view of recorded seismicity and wells
3D view, from bottom and south to north, of the 50 Ohm m resistivity contour (green surface), of the geothermal wells of the field (blue: production, red: injection) and of the local seismicity (grey spheres).

In the GEMex project, a European consortium of 24 EERA partners cooperated with Mexican partners. The aim was to

  1. assess the geothermal resources at unconventional geothermal sites in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB), namely the Acoculco Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) and the Los Humeros Superhot system,

  2. characterize the geothermal reservoirs,

  3. elaborate concepts for the (further) development of these sites based on the information obtained.

In this project we were involved in the geophysical characterization of the deep structures of the Los Humeros field, especially in the tasks related to passive seismic monitoring and magneto-telluric surveys.

The results of the numerous geophysical surveys carried out during the project were integrated into a ParaView project for quality control and visual inspection and analysis of all results, before a more quantitative interpretation of the results.

Publications

Gaucher, E., Toledo, T., Metz, M., Figueroa Soto, A., Caló, M., 2019. one year of passive seismic monitoring of the Los Humeros (Mexico) geothermal field, in: European Geothermal Congress, The Hague, The Netherlands. 11-14 June. Toledo, T.,

Gaucher, E., Metz, M., Calò, M., Figueroa, A., Angulo, J., Jousset, P., Kieling, K., Saenger, E., 2019. dataset of the 6G seismic network at Los Humeros, 2017-2018. GFZ Data Services.

Project Information

  • Title: Cooperation in Geothermal energy research Europe-Mexico for development of Enhanced Geothermal Systems and Superhot Geothermal Systems
  • Topic: European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme: LCE-23-2016
  • Grant number: No. 727550
  • Project duration: 10/2016 - 5/2020; 44 months
  • Website: http://www.gemex-h2020.eu