Sustainability of the Hatchobaru geothermal field, Japan

The Hatchobaru power plant Unit No. 1 (55 MW) has been operating since 1977 and Unit No. 2 (55 MW) since 1990. The mean capacity factor of the power plant has reached about 90%. Considering that the long-term operation of the plant, over 30 years for Unit No. 1 and nearly 20 years for Unit No. 2, has been maintained with such a high capacity factor, sustainable development in terms of economic production has been achieved. To maintain a stable operation, systematic reservoir monitoring and reservoir simulation studies have been conducted. The monitoring of changes in reservoir pressure, temperature and gravity indicates that the reservoir is currently approaching a stable state. Results of a simulation study suggest that the sustainable power output of the Hatchobaru reservoir is approximately 120 MW, and each productive fault has the capacity to produce enough steam to generate from 11 to 55 MW. Therefore, it would be possible to maintain the rated power output of 110 MW by optimizing well alignments so that the mass production can be kept within the sustainable productivity of each fault, and the injected water does not cool the production zones.