2025 GRC: Workshop 4
Workshop 4: Seismic Risk and Reservoir Integrity in Enhanced Geothermal Systems: Mechanisms, Monitoring, and Mitigation
Saturday, October 25, 2025
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
As geothermal energy development expands into deeper, hotter, and more fractured environments, understanding and managing induced seismicity becomes increasingly vital. This session focuses on advances in seismic hazard assessment and reservoir integrity in Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) and other high-enthalpy geothermal operations. This workshop aims to bridge geomechanics, geophysics, reservoir engineering, and seismic risk management to support safe, sustainable geothermal energy development.
Workshop Agenda
8:30 AM – 8:45 AM | Welcome and Introduction
Overview of workshop objectives, agenda, and logistics.
Speakers: No’am Dvory (University of Utah) / Nori Nakata (LBNL)
8:45 AM – 9:30 AM | Mechanisms of Induced Seismicity in EGS
Fundamentals: stress changes, pore pressure effects, fault slip behavior.
Speaker: Ahmad Ghassemi (University of Oklahoma)
9:30 AM – 10:15 AM | Fault Stability and Slip Potential in EGS Reservoirs
Geomechanics of fault reactivation.
Speaker: Kyungjae (KJ) Im (Caltech)
10:15 AM – 10:30 AM | Networking Break
10:30 AM – 11:15 AM | Seismic Data Interpretation and Risk Assessment
Event detection, magnitude, and mechanism solutions; probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA).
Speaker: Alexandros Savvaidis (UT Austin)
11:15 AM – 12:00 PM | Seismic Risk Mitigation: Traffic Light Systems and Beyond
TLS design principles, adaptive management, and real-world examples from geothermal projects.
Speaker: Ryan Schultz (ETH)
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM | Networking Lunch
1:00 PM – 1:45 PM | Seismic Monitoring Technologies: Networks to DAS
Monitoring strategies: surface/borehole arrays, DAS, fiber optics, real-time monitoring advances.
Speaker: Jonathan Ajo-Franklin (Rice University)
1:45 PM – 2:30 PM | Case Study Session: Fervo Cape
Comparative review of case study: what worked, what failed, lessons learned.
Speaker: Taeho Kim (Stanford)
2:30 PM – 2:45 PM | Networking Break
2:45 PM – 3:30 PM | Geothermal Development Seismic Hazard: Comparing Conventional and EGS-Related Seismicity
A broader perspective on seismic risk across different geothermal development strategies.
Speaker: Ole Kaven (USGS)
3:30 PM – 4:15 PM | Reservoir Integrity: Injection-Induced Stress and Failure
Wellbore stability, integrity, and managing thermal and hydraulic stresses in EGS reservoirs.
Speaker: John McLennan (University of Utah)
4:15 PM – 5:00 PM | Panel Discussion: Future Directions and Challenges
Open Q&A and panel with all lecturers. Focus on evolving strategies and upcoming technologies.
Moderators: No’am Dvory (University of Utah) / Nori Nakata (LBNL)
Lunch and break service are included in the workshop registration fees ($575).