In February 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced its first round of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) demonstration projects directed by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). These three projects will receive up to $60 million to demonstrate EGS in a variety of geographic locations, geologic formations, and subsurface conditions. This work will advance EGS towards DOE's Enhanced Geothermal Shot™ analysis and GeoVision analysis goals, and help spur further growth of geothermal energy, which offers vast potential to provide firm, flexible energy nationwide.
The first-round selections are:
- Chevron New Energies (HQ: San Ramon, CA)—This EGS pilot demonstration will use innovative drilling and stimulation techniques to access geothermal energy near an existing geothermal field in Sonoma County in northern California.
- Fervo Energy (HQ: Houston, TX)—This pilot within the Milford Renewable Energy Corridor in Utah and adjacent to the DOE’s Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) field laboratory aims to produce at least 8 megawatts of power from each of three wells at a site with no existing commercial geothermal power production.
- Mazama Energy (HQ: Seattle, WA)—This project will demonstrate super-hot EGS (temperatures above 375°C) on the western flank of Newberry Volcano in Oregon. This demonstration will help advance the science needed to operate in extreme heat conditions.
IIJA authorizes projects in four Topic Areas. The three projects selected in the first round are intended to increase geothermal power production in the United States in the near-term from areas surrounding existing geothermal fields (Topic Area 1) while facilitating new opportunities for widespread power (or power with cascaded heat production) in the future from regions where heat is present, yet no geothermal energy production exists (Topic Areas 2 and 3). The rolling funding opportunity includes a fourth topic issued in a second round, aiming to demonstrate EGS in the eastern United States.
