Hot Dry Rock Geothermal Resources in Southwestern China

Abstract

This chapter discusses Hot Dry Rock geothermal resources in southwest China and establishment of EGS system. Chinese terrestrial heat flow data amounts to 921 in 2001, which is the foundation assessing HDR geothermal resource. The highest heat flow values widely appeared in the Tibetan Plateau. The deep temperature patterns calculated by heat flow values in the continental area of China show that the temperature of most part of Tibet at the depth 3.5–8.5 km has reached 200–400 ℃. The southern part of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is provided with rich in HDR geothermal resources, accounting for 20.5% of total resource base.