The US Department of Energy has selected 21 geothermal projects for more than $99 million in proposed support, expanding field tests and exploratory drilling across western states.
The money is not yet guaranteed. DOE’s September 21 announcement starts award negotiations, which can still end without a funding agreement.
The selection covers five enhanced geothermal field tests and 16 exploration projects. Together, they target a costly uncertainty: what usable heat actually exists underground.
-
Server Installed Next to Reservoir Heats Water in London Home, Helps Resident Save Up to £15 Monthly on Bills
-
Clean Energy Breaks Records, Saves Nearly $500 Billion in Costs, and World Needs to Double Capacity by 2030
-
A 3,057-acre cattle pasture in Texas just cleared the last local hurdle for a $10.1 billion solar factory, and the school board that voted 7-0 on it says the district loses nothing
-
After Shutting Down Nuclear Plant, Germany Plans 1,000 MWh Battery on the Same Site: Vattenfall Approves 254 MW Project Expected to Store Energy for Nearly 4 Hours and Operate by 2028
From a volcanic flank to an operating geothermal field
According to DOE’s project list, Quaise Energy plans a demonstration on Oregon’s Newberry Volcano, targeting bottomhole temperatures between 265 and 365 degrees Celsius.
That range is about 509 to 689 degrees Fahrenheit. DOE says it exceeds temperatures at which most conventional enhanced geothermal tools and materials have been validated.
In Idaho, Fervo’s proposed work includes engineered wells and a geophone array operating at 200 degrees Celsius or above to track activity underground.
Zanskar’s New Mexico project would use a short horizontal injection well at Lightning Dock, seeking to support an existing reservoir and capture heat from nearby rock.
The sites test different problems. One confronts unusually high temperatures, another measures reservoir behavior, and another tries to improve access to heat beside an operating field.
Sixteen projects first have to prove the resource
The exploration group includes drilling on Alaska’s Mount Augustine and investigations in California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
These are resource-assessment projects. Finding hot rock is only part of the work; developers also need subsurface measurements that can support decisions about a commercial installation.
Interest from large electricity buyers is already visible in Google’s geothermal agreement with Fervo. Exploration funding tackles the earlier question of where future projects might be feasible.
Why the field data will be public
DOE says results will enter its Geothermal Data Repository, allowing researchers and other developers to use information from the field tests and exploration campaigns.
The work builds on a broader research effort that includes Utah’s FORGE underground laboratory near Milford, where teams test drilling and engineered-reservoir techniques.
At FORGE, researchers have worked on creating flow paths through hot rock and improving drilling performance. Its role is to test methods that other projects can develop further.
The 21 selections do not represent 21 operating power stations. Negotiated awards, completed wells and measured reservoir performance are the milestones that would turn this announcement into demonstrated progress.
