GreenFire Energy announces partner for its closed-loop geothermal power system pilot project
GreenFire Energy's closed-loop system overview (source: GreenFire Energy)
Alexander Richter
16 Jul 2018
U.S.-based GreenFire Energy Inc. announces a partnership with Electric Power Development Company, Ltd. (J-Power Company), and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) on a participation in the company's demonstration of its ECO2G (TM) - a closed-loop geothermal power generation system.
GreenFire Energy Inc. announced in late June 2018, that Electric Power Development Company, Ltd. (J-Power Company), a utility company in Japan, and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) will participate in GreenFire’s demonstration of a closed-loop geothermal power generation system. J-Power Company will have project observation and information rights.
This project is the first implementation of GreenFire Energy Inc.’s innovative ECO2G™ closed-loop geothermal technology and will demonstrate the ability to produce power from a currently inactive well in the Coso, California geothermal field. The success of ECO2G could enable geothermal project owners to generate power from idle or marginal wells at low risk and attractive cost per megawatt-hour. This is significant because worldwide, about 20% of geothermal wells are unproductive for a variety of reasons.
The demonstration project will insert a coaxial closed-loop tube in an existing geothermal well that lacks sufficient pressure and permeability to generate power. Various fluids may be circulated to transfer heat to the surface where power potential will be carefully measured.
Although generating power from existing but currently non-producing geothermal wells would be an important advancement in geothermal power technology, GreenFire believes that success in geothermal well retrofits can provide the expertise and credibility required to eventually advance to large-scale ECO2G™ projects in locations unsuitable for conventional geothermal power technology.
“EPRI is constantly collaborating with utilities and technology developers to explore new systems and processes that can help the power industry deliver safe, affordable, reliable, and environmentally responsible electricity for society,” said Tom Alley, vice president of EPRI’s fossil and renewable power generation R&D. “We’re pleased to be invited to work with J-Power and GreenFire Energy to independently evaluate the potential of the ECO2G™ system.”
”GreenFire Energy’s ECO2G™ technology is the culmination of years of research with the U.S. Department of Energy, national laboratories, and universities. The decision of EPRI, a research collaborator with utility and energy companies worldwide, to review our development project is consistent with our effort to engage leading experts in every relevant discipline.” said Joseph Scherer, Chief Executive Officer of GreenFire Energy Inc.
He continued “J-Power is a significant addition as a research collaborator because it already has a geothermal power facility. We believe that closed-loop geothermal could be key to developing Japan’s enormous geothermal potential in a manner consistent with Japan’s cultural and environmental values.”
About J-Power Company – J-Power Company (Electric Power Development Company, Ltd.) operates power generation facilities throughout Japan. The company generates electricity from seven coal-fired stations, 61 hydroelectric power stations, and 22 wind farms. J-Power also maintains a network of 2,400 kilometers of transmission lines.
About EPRI – The Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. (www.epri.com) conducts research and development relating to the generation, delivery and use of electricity for the benefit of the public. An independent, nonprofit organization, EPRI brings together its scientists and engineers as well as experts from academia and industry to help address challenges in electricity, including reliability, efficiency, affordability, health, safety and the environment. EPRI members represent 90% of the electric utility revenue in the United States with international participation in 35 countries. EPRI’s principal offices and laboratories are located in Palo Alto, Calif.; Charlotte, N.C.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and Lenox, Mass.
About Green Fire – GreenFire Energy Inc. offers an elegantly simple and standardized solution to harvest the earth’s “thermal battery,” which is by far the largest source of continuous renewable energy. GreenFire Energy’s proprietary technology, ECO2G™, accesses the extremely large, hot and deep geothermal resources that have been previously unreachable. ECO2G’s modular scalable architecture fully exploits deep geothermal resources to provide grid-scale power generation. Equally important, ECO2G provides continuous yet flexible power that quickly responds to the grid’s dynamically changing power requirements. Adding to its advantages, ECO2G is also the most environmentally safe form of grid-scale power.
GreenFire Energy Inc. has been awarded two grants by the U.S. Department of Energy. GreenFire Energy Inc. is a privately held company based in Emeryville, CA. Visit us at www.greenfireenergy.com.
ECO2G is a registered trademark of GreenFire Energy Inc. All other brands, products or service names are or may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
Source: Company release
