DOE Awards $338M to Develop Domestic Geothermal Energy Projects

November 17, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS

These grants are directed toward identifying and developing new geothermal fields and reducing the upfront risk associated with geothermal development through exploration and drilling projects and data development and collection.

In addition, the grants will support the deployment and creative financing approaches for ground source heat pump demonstration projects across the country, experts said.

The projects selected for negotiation of awards fall in six categories:

• Innovative exploration and drilling projects (up to $98.1 million): Twenty-four projects were selected focusing on the development of new geothermal fields using sensing, exploration and well-drilling technologies.
• Co-produced, geopressured and low temperature projects (up to $20.7 million): Eleven projects were selected for the development of new low-temperature geothermal fields. This includes geothermal heat found in oil and gas wells around the U.S.
• Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) demonstrations (up to $51.4 million): Three projects were selected for the exploration, drilling and development of EGS to validate power production from deep, hot rock resources.
• EGS components R&D/analysis (up to $81.5 million): Forty-five projects were selected to focus on R&D of new technologies to find and drill into deep hot rock formations, stimulate enhanced geothermal reservoirs and convert the heat to power.
• Geothermal data development, collection and maintenance (up to $24.6 million): Three projects were selected for the population of a nationwide geothermal resource database to help identify and assess new fields.
• Ground source heat pump demonstrations (up to $61.9 million): Thirty-seven projects were selected to demonstrate the deployment of ground source heat pumps for heating and cooling of a variety of buildings for a variety of customer types, including academic institutions, local governments and commercial buildings.

The grants will be matched more than one-for-one with an additional $353 million in private and non-federal cost-share funds, according to the DOE.

A list of the projects awarded is available from the DOE.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).