The 3,853' deep well drilled near Cholla Power Plant [right] on the Colorado Plateau failed to find enough permeability at total depth to make it a viable reservoir to sequester carbon dioxide (CO2) from power plants in the region. The drilling project web site indicates the well bottomed in Precambrian granites.
The WestCarb consortium, including Arizona Public Service, is planning another exploratory well at a site to be determined, and pending approval of the US Dept. of Energy which funded much of the experiment. WestCarb noted that the well did confirm high salinity water in the target formation and suitable cap rock, both requirements for CO2 sequestration reservoirs.