Abstract: This invention uses a combination of drilling, dissolving, and sinking to emplace a closed end well pipe into a salt formation. The well which results can be used to produce geothermal power or for such other purposes for which it may offer an advantage. This method uses the following combination of properties of salt to achieve the desired result: solubility in water, plasticity at relatively low temperatures, and occurrence in large, deeply penetrating structures.

Abstract: A method of obtaining geothermal energy from salt formations in which a well is drilled and cased into a suitable salt formation to a depth where the temperature is such that the salt behaves plastically. A weighted, closed end pipe is inserted into the well with its lower, closed end at about the bottom of the salt formation and thereafter an insulated open end pipe is inserted, after the weight has been removed from the closed end pipe, within said closed end pipe, thus forming a double pipe heat exchanger. A heat exchange fluid is circulated, usually in a closed loop, through the double pipe heat exchanger, an energy extracting means, such as, for example, a steam generator or an hydraulic turbine, and back through the heat exchanger.