US DOE announces $99M funding for Enhanced Geothermal field tests and exploration drilling

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the selection of 21 projects that will receive more than USD 99 million in funding to conduct field-scale test of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) and exploration drilling to identify and characterize conventional and next-generation geothermal resources.

Data generated by these projects will be publicly available through the DOE’s Geothermal Data Repository, thus helping to extend the value of these projects beyond the individual sites and informing future geothermal exploration and technology development initiatives.

Five projects are conducting field-scale EGS tests at depths and temperatures appropriate for full-scale geothermal development:

• Fervo Energy – Drilling, completion, and stimulation of EGS wells in Elmore County, Idaho and the deployment of the first-ever high-temperature three component geophone array at or above 200 ºC
• Zanskar Geothermal and Minerals – Design, drilling, and hydraulic stimulation of a short-lateral horizontal injection well at the Lightning Dock Geothermal Field in New Mexico to deliver engineered pressure support to an producing hydrothermal reservoir
• AlterG Resources – Field validation through drilling and stimulation of an EGS well pair at commercially relevant depths in Pershing and Churchill Counties, Nevada
• University of Utah – Design, drilling, stimulation, and operation of an EGS doublet at the Dixie Valley West geothermal field in Nevada to demonstrate viability of engineered reservoir development adjacent to existing hydrothermal systems
• Quaise Energy – Field-scale EGS demonstration at the southern flank of Newberry Volcano in Oregon with bottomhole temperatures of 265 to 365 ºC.

The other sixteen projects will conduct exploration drilling to characterize and potentially confirm promising geothermal resources, either in the realm of conventional hydrothermal or sites requiring next-generation geothermal solutions:

• DAVINCI EP, LLC – Drilling and testing of two paired horizontal geothermal wells in the Brawley Known Geothermal Resource Area in California
• University of Utah – Drilling and subsurface characterization of a large thermal anomaly in the Cove Fort geothermal field in Utah
• Zanskar Geothermal and Minerals – Testing and documenting a methodology for directional drilling from a single well pad to confirm a commercially viable hydrothermal resource at a Basin and Range site, with the goal of reducing anomaly-to-discovery timelines
• Fervo Energy – Drilling as part of a targeted appraisal campaign for an EGS prospect in Humboldt County, Nevada
• San Ildefonso Services LLC – Drilling of a pre-feasibility exploration geothermal well in the San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico, in the Rio Grande Rift
• GeoAlaska LLC – Drilling, coring, logging, and testing a geothermal confirmation well on the southern flank of Mt. Augustine at the lower Cook Inlet, Alaska
• Hexagon Energy LLC – Drilling of an exploration well at the Wind River Valley in Washington, targeting temperatures above 150 ºC.
• GreenFire Energy Inc – Drilling of a vertical well to confirm and characterize deep geothermal potential at the Sierra Army Depot in California, targeting a temperature of 204 ºC.
• TLS Geothermics – Drilling of a confirmation well in Nevada targeting faulted crystalline rocks, and the development and calibration of a 3D model linking magnetotelluric resistivity to temperature and permeability
• LiPower Geothermal LLC – Drilling of a production-reinjection well pair to complete a Definitive Feasibility Study of a geothermal resource in the South Brawley New River area in California
• INTEK Inc – Drilling of two wells into the geothermal resource at Pisgah Crate in California to collect data and determine power production feasibility
• Oriah Geothermal LLC – Staged evaluation of a next-generation geothermal resource in eastern Oregon through the drilling of thermal-gradient wells and a subsequent reservoir-depth exploration well
• XGS Energy Inc – Drilling of deep vertical appraisal well in Socorro County, New Mexico to validate subsurface data sets and update thermal and geologic models
• Raser Power Systems LLC – Drilling of exploratory will to evaluate opportunity for increased power generation from the Thermo No. 1 geothermal power plant in Utah’s Escalante Desert
• 400C Energy – Re-entry and deepening of an existing geothermal well in Beaver County, Utah to identify an possible extension of the nearby Roosevelt Hot Springs hydrothermal system, a high-temperature geothermal resource in hot crystalline rocks
• Invenergy Geothermal Development LLC – Drilling of a deep temperature confirmation well near Grand View, Idaho to validate hybrid hydrothermal-EGS potential

The convergence of technology development, fiscal incentives, investor interest, federal land allocation, and expedited permitting has resulted in a level of geothermal exploration and development activity in the United States that is incomparable to the previous years. This latest funding round from the DOE further empowers the local industry, allowing for a portfolio approach to geothermal exploration to help manage project risks and generate a large collective of data that will progress the industry beyond the individual projects.

Source: US Department of Energy