en.Wedoany.com Reported - Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) has announced that construction preparations will begin this year at three sites included in the "Geothermal Frontier Project." Two of these sites are located in Shizukuishi Town, Iwate Prefecture, and the other is in Yuzawa City, Akita Prefecture.

Under the "Geothermal Frontier Project" framework, the Japanese government will conduct leading resource surveys at geothermal sites confirmed to have high development potential. The government will advance development work until the drilling and testing of exploration wells are completed. If the development prospects are assessed as favorable, the drilled wells will be transferred to private companies upon application for subsequent operations.

The two candidate sites in Shizukuishi Town are the Amihari area, southwest of Mount Iwate, and the Marumori area, bordering Akita Prefecture. In the Amihari area, water well drilling and demolition of existing facilities will be carried out. In the Marumori area, environmental surveys will be conducted to prepare for the construction of access roads. Hot spring monitoring will be carried out simultaneously at both sites.

The candidate site in Yuzawa City is located upstream of the Mizusegawa River. Permits for exploration work within Kurikoma National Park are expected to be obtained this year. Additionally, raptor surveys will be conducted for environmental monitoring. If everything proceeds smoothly, the project will move to the construction phase of access roads.

For all candidate sites, once preliminary preparations are completed, the project will enter the exploration well drilling phase, with drilling depths expected to range between 1,000 and 2,000 meters. This will be followed by well testing to assess productivity. Even after the exploration wells are transferred to private companies, the Japanese government has committed to continuing support in environmental impact assessments and subsequent development work.