The Marsili Seamount Offshore Geothermal Reservoir: A Big Challenge for an Energy Transition Model

Diego Paltrinieri, Paolo Favali, Francesco Italiano, Patrizio Signanini, Carlo Caso and Fabrizio B. Armani
Additional contact information
Diego Paltrinieri: Marine Geologist Business Developer, 40100 Bologna, Italy
Paolo Favali: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, 00143 Rome, Italy
Francesco Italiano: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, 90100 Palermo, Italy
Patrizio Signanini: Department of Engineering and Geology (InGeo), Università di Chieti, 66100 Chieti, Italy
Carlo Caso: CEOT2D-Transfer to Digital, 84100 Salerno, Italy
Fabrizio B. Armani: Energy Consultant, 20100 Milan, Italy

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: Renewable energies have been the only sources recording a clear increase in total installed capacity, setting a record in new power capacity in 2020, despite the pandemic. The European Union Green Deal represents a strategy towards a sustainable economic model. In this framework, land-based geothermics has seen very limited development; however, offshore geothermics is almost completely absent in the discussion on energy source alternatives, even though it represents a real challenge for energy transition, including the production of green hydrogen. This article discusses an excursus on the activities carried out on offshore geothermal areas worldwide. We focused on the energy potential capacity of the Marsili volcanic seamount located over the bathial plain of the Tyrrhenian Basin, describing the detailed geological, geochemical, and geophysical investigations that have been carried out on that seamount since the 2000s. All the collected data have shown evidence supporting the existence of an exploitable geothermal system in the Marsili seamount consisting of a reservoir of supercritical geothermal fluids of about 100 km 3 . We discuss and evaluate the actual consistence of the impacts associated with the occurrence of potential risks. We also describe the necessary further steps towards the pilot well. An important breakthrough in the short-medium term that allows for an exit from the predominance of fossil sources may come from the development of energy production derived from offshore high-enthalpy geothermal fields, especially in areas such as the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea. There is a natural clear predisposition for its exploitation combined with a low ecological footprint, which is the target objective of international agreements in the context of a blue economy strategy.

Keywords: offshore geothermal energy; Marsili seamount; energy transition model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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