WASHINGTON D.C. — Feb. 28, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — The U.S. Department of Energy has announced $60 million in funding for three geothermal energy projects, including a Milford, Beaver County, effort.
“These projects will demonstrate the potential for geothermal energy to provide reliable, cost-effective electricity to tens of millions of U.S. homes and businesses and help deliver on President Biden’s goal of 100 % clean electricity by 2035,” according to the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
The Beaver County pilot to be run by Texas-based Fervo Energy is located in the Milford Renewable Energy Corridor and is adjacent to the DOE’s Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE), the DOE said.
The project area covers five square miles and is adjacent to a wind farm and a solar photovoltaic plant and partners include the University of Utah’s Energy & Geoscience Institute.
The goal is to produce at least 8 megawatts of power from each of three geothermal wells at the site. “This initiative supports the DOE Enhanced Geothermal Shot, part of DOE’s Energy Earthshots initiative, which aims to unlock earth’s near-inexhaustible heat resources by reducing the cost of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) by 90% by 2035,” the DOE said.
The DOE has said Utah is home to immense geothermal potential, the southwest portion of the state holding high-quality geothermal reserves.
The other two selectees for the $60 million are a Chevron New Energies pilot demonstration of innovative drilling and stimulation of an existing geothermal field in California’s Sonoma County and a project of Seattle-based Mazama Energy to tap the potential geothermal reserves on the western flank of the Newberry Volcano in Oregon.
