The US Department of Energy announced on 21 September its investment of more than $99 million in 21 projects selected to advance geothermal energy development across the United States. The projects will conduct field-scale tests of next-generation geothermal technologies and exploration drilling to characterize and potentially confirm promising geothermal resources.
“These projects will empower American innovators to unlock the tremendous geothermal resources beneath our feet,” said DOE under secretary of Energy Kyle Haustveit.
The 21 projects aim to advance geothermal development in two key areas. Five projects will conduct field-scale enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) tests to validate technologies under real-world conditions, while 16 additional projects will conduct exploration drilling to identify and characterise promising next-generation geothermal resources. Together, these efforts should help reduce technical and development risk and provide the information needed to support future commercial projects and investment.
Data generated by these projects will be publicly available through DOE’s Geothermal Data Repository (GDR) giving industry, researchers, and other stakeholders access to information from the field tests and geothermal exploration activities. Making these data available can extend the value of the projects beyond individual sites by helping inform future technology development and geothermal exploration across the industry.
