The identification of geomechanically attractive regions of the targeted fault zones is of great importance for geothermal exploration. However, it is difficult to identify these sweet spots from the standard parameters reactivation and dilatation potential (RP and DP) alone, as areas with a high DP can have both a high and a low RP, and areas with a low RP do not automatically have a high DP. A holistic view of both potentials is therefore necessary, which characterises areas with a high DP and the lowest possible RP (Meier and Bücken 2022). A scaled sweet spot value between 0 and 1 is defined to emphasise the most attractive areas. Values ≤ 0 indicate unfavourable areas for development, which are characterised by high RP and/or low DP. Sweet spot values around 1 indicate favourable areas for development from a geomechanics point of view, with high DP and low RP.
outcome
- Localisation of potentially geomechanically advantageous areas on the fault zones
- Combined consideration of hydraulically favourable and geomechanically safe fault segments for geothermal exploration