As part of its “Fast Lane” series, the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR, formerly NREL) has published a summary of three licensable technologies that could help access deeper geothermal resources through reliable and cost-optimized drilling. All three technologies are ready and available for use for geothermal companies.
The three technologies are as follows:
- A high-temperature alternator for localized power generation can perform reliably at temperatures of up to 500 ºF (260 ºC), making it a viable power source for BHAs when drilling high-temperature geothermal wells.
- Downhole sensors and electronics suitable for harsh thermal and mechanical environments can be combined into smart systems to record and transmit drilling data during high-temperature geothermal drilling.
- GEOPHIRES is a publicly available software modeling tool that help estimate capital, operations, and maintenance costs for prospective geothermal development sites. A notable case study of the use of the GEOPHIRES tool focuses on the 500-MW Cape Station project of Fervo Energy in Utah.
RELATED: NLR report chronicles US geothermal market growth trends from 2021 to 2025
Source: NLR
