ABB has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Sage Geosystems, a prominent geothermal energy company, to collaborate on developing energy storage and geothermal power generation facilities.

The collaboration will allow ABB to support Sage’s agreement with Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to deliver up to 150 MW of geothermal baseload power at a location east of the Rocky Mountains in the USA. The first phase of the project is expected to be operational by 2027.

Within the main MoU scope, ABB will investigate how its automation, electrification and digital technology can be deployed at geothermal sites around the world, to maximise energy efficiency and reliability. This may include supplying a distributed control system, electrical infrastructure architecture, and digital solutions such as asset performance management, process optimisation and cybersecurity systems. The partnership also has the potential to develop solutions for Sage’s energy storage technology, which can be paired with intermittent renewable resources such as solar and wind.

“We are focused on scaling our proprietary Geopressured Geothermal Systems technology and our partnership with ABB will advance the widespread deployment of next-generation geothermal,” said Cindy Taff, CEO of Sage Geosystems.

Geothermal energy is set to build on the current 0.3 % market share of the world’s power supply, according to Rystad Energy. Installed geothermal capacity stands at 16.8 GW worldwide currently, but this is expected to reach 28 GW by 2030 and upwards of 110 GW by 2050. The market growth trajectory is expected to attract investments totalling over $120 billion between now and 2035.