Third test drilling deep geothermics completed
Mol, August 6, 2018: last week (30/07/2018), the Smet-Daldrup company successfully completed the third test drilling at the Balmatt site in Mol-Donk. The drill-hole has a length of 4 905 m and a vertical depth of 4 235 m. A large part was drilled at an angle of 45 °, so the end of the drill-hole is located underneath Mol-Sluis.
The drilling was started on October 10, 2017, and lasted a total of 10 months. The fourth and final section was finished in less than a month's time. That section has crossed the entire Calcerous Carboniferous strata and at the bottom also drilled 150 meters of sandstone with a probable age of 360 to 370 million years, the end of the Devonian era. This sandstone layer was never drilled in the eastern Kempen and is only known from drilling in Loenhout and Booischot, where it is situated less deep, at resp. 1 500 m and 700 to 800 m.
The drilling tower is now moving to another drilling site, while the VITO experts further analyze the results of the borehole tests. They compare the results of the third one with those of the first two at Balmatt and with known geological parameters. The main activities at the Balmatt site also focus on the commissioning of the geothermal energy plant for the supply of heat for SCK-CEN, Belgoprocess and VITO as from next winter. The start-up is scheduled for the end of October.
