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FORGE research initiative: Newberry Geothermal Energy, Oregon

FORGE research initiative: Newberry Geothermal Energy, Oregon BHTV rig up at Newberry project site, Oregon (source: AltaRock Energy)
Alexander Richter 13 Jan 2016

The Newberry Geothermal Energy, one of the contenders for the FORGE project and initiative by the U.S. Department of Energy has relaunched its blog where one can find details about the project and its activities.

Earlier this week, we reported on one of the contenders for the U.S. DOE Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) initiative. There are a total of five teams contending for the full project funding.

One of the contenders is Newberry Geothermal Energy (NEWGEN), a collaborative effort lead by a team of researchers from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Oregon State University and AltaRock Energy, Inc. Combining research, academic and industry experience, this dynamic group will push geothermal energy research forward at the Newberry Volcano Enhanced Geothermal Energy (EGS) field site. Newberry Geothermal Energy is funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE) through a competitive grant process which provides staged funding opportunities over the next several years. Five initial teams and field sites were selected in early 2015 to kick-off the DOE Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) initiative, and the Newberry site is a strong contender amongst them.

The project is currently in Phase I of III and has received $400,000 in initial funding from the DOE FORGE initiative plus additional investments from partner institutions. Phase I will culminate in a conceptual geologic model detailing the geothermal resource at Newberry Volcano, and a final report and presentation to the DOE FORGE review committee in the spring of 2016.

Together, the conceptual geologic model, report and presentation will articulate Newberry’s suitability as the nation’s FORGE site. The five competing groups in Phase I will be down-selected to a maximum of three groups which will continue to Phase II. Phase II will involve further site characterization, team building and planning, followed by down-selection to the final FORGE site which will continue into Phase III. Phase III will involve field site development, well drilling, reservoir stimulation and testing and other competitively funded research and development activities related to EGS.

The Newberry Geothermal Energy collaborative maintains a great blog, which you can follow here.