GTO’s vision is a vibrant domestic geothermal sector that contributes to a carbon pollution-free electric sector by 2035 and a net-zero emission economy by 2050 while providing economic opportunities and environmental benefits for all Americans. The GTO mission is to increase geothermal energy deployment through research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) of innovative technologies that enhance exploration and production.

GTO has outlined three strategic goals that serve as the basis of its research portfolio on the pathway to boost geothermal deployment. Achieving such deployment will increase the ability of geothermal to contribute affordable, low-carbon energy to Americans and create long-term, well-paying U.S. jobs.

Strategic Goal 1: Drive toward a carbon-free electricity grid by supplying 60 GW of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) and hydrothermal resource deployment. Aggressive technology improvements in EGS and hydrothermal resources combined with reduced permitting and regulatory timelines will enable significant deployment of geothermal electric generation and will provide essential firm, flexible capacity to support a carbon pollution-free electric sector by 2035 and deliver a net-zero emission economy by 2050.

Strategic Goal 2: Decarbonize building heating and cooling loads by capturing the economic potential for 17,500 GDH systems and by installing GHPs in 28 million households nationwide. Widespread adoption of GDH and GHP technologies in residential and commercial buildings will require transformational improvements in the economic accessibility, federal, state, and local tax incentives; social acceptance; and permitting and regulatory timelines. Geothermal heating and cooling technologies provide a step-change in building efficiency, reduce peak heating and cooling loads, and reduce stress on the bulk power system to meet the Administration’s goal to reduce the carbon footprint of the U.S. building stock by 80% by 2035 and deliver a net-zero economy by 2050.

Strategic Goal 3: Deliver economic, environmental, and social justice advancements through increased geothermal technology deployment. Geothermal technologies create clean energy jobs and generate substantial local economic activity, including wage spending, land-lease payments, property taxes, royalties, and other important cumulative expenditures. Geothermal energy addresses environmental and social justice issues because its high capacity factor, small physical footprint, and wide-ranging application ensure that it can be utilized in urban centers, rural areas, and remote communities. GTO will continue to document and amplify the benefits that geothermal can have for communities nationwide.

GTO will meet these three strategic goals through research, development, demonstration, and deployment in six Research Areas. This Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP) lays out these Research Areas and the associated technical objectives (Table 1.1), which include five technical areas and one less technical technology-agnostic area (Geothermal Integration and Awareness) . Progress in each area is critical to meeting the promise of geothermal energy in both the electric and heating and cooling sectors.

• Exploration and Characterization: The high costs and risks associated with geothermal exploration are a major barrier to expanded development of both conventional hydrothermal and EGS resources. This Research Area focuses on technology and cost improvements for geothermal resource characterization during early exploration phases which will improve resource targeting for all geothermal resource types and holds significant potential to improve project economics. This Research Area intends to address challenges and barriers that include cost-prohibitive data collection, limited public data availability, and low subsurface spatial resolution of data in support of strategic goal one.
• Subsurface Accessibility: Subsurface access through drilled and completed wells is required for all forms of geothermal energy exploration, characterization, and development. This Research Area encompasses efforts to reduce the time and cost associated with the drilling of geothermal wells, ultimately meeting the key objective of achieving the “ideal” drilling cost curves used in the GeoVision analysis Technology Improvement scenario. Efforts in this area include investments that enable tools and other hardware capabilities that are more resilient in the extreme environments associated with drilling and producing geothermal reservoirs. This research intends to meet the challenges and overcome the barriers around drilling in high-temperature, hard, fractured rock formations.
• Subsurface Enhancement and Sustainability: Achieving aggressive EGS and hydrothermal resource deployment will require improving sub-economic naturally occurring hydrothermal systems or developing fully engineered geothermal reservoirs. This geothermal energy recovery must be enhanced and sustained over project lifecycles in order to optimize geothermal energy, requiring significant RD&D efforts. This Research Area intends to meet the challenges and overcome the barriers to high reservoir stimulation technology costs and limitations to existing numerical models, ensuring enhanced and sustained geothermal energy.
• Resource Maximization: Geothermal resources contribute toward U.S. grid reliability, resilience, and security; supporting development of a robust domestic clean energy manufacturing supply chain; and providing effective alternatives to grid-dependent heating and cooling as well as energy storage solutions for the built environment. This Research Area intends to develop and deploy new technologies, capabilities, as well as operational activities that maximize geothermal resources while instilling geothermal value recognition across the spectrum of use cases.
• Data, Modeling, and Analysis: Data underpin RD&D conducted across all GTO MYPP Research Areas. Ensuring the quality and quantity of such data is critical to support effective data dissemination in DOE-developed technology and cost models, conduct strategic analyses that identify emerging GTO research opportunities, as well as tracking program-wide progress toward meeting metrics and goals. The Data, Modeling, and Analysis (DMA) area intends to build on these activities by providing critical support and enabling functions in data best practices, modeling, strategic analysis, and outreach and communication that advance all GTO MYPP Research Areas. For instance, DMA insights on added value streams for geothermal links directly to building out demonstration work in Resource Maximization.
• Geothermal Integration and Awareness: Each of GTO’s subprograms focuses on a distinct aspect of geothermal energy and addresses challenges unique to those aspects; however, several additional GTO focus areas cut across multiple subprograms. This Research Area spans technology, workflow, commercialization, and stakeholder engagement activities that include using machine learning techniques in RD&D activities, incorporating advanced manufacturing innovations for geothermal technology development, and active support of geothermal technology commercialization, promotion of trust in federal government messaging and opportunities, and strategic socialization to operate across the United States. Additionally, integration of oil and gas infrastructure, workforce, and knowledge into the geothermal industry as well as broader geothermal community and engagement with key stakeholders, such as states and communities, on the benefits and myriad applications of geothermal energy will build awareness and support for geothermal development opportunities.

GTO has laid out performance goals for all technical Research Areas in Section 2, including the current comparable baseline and target year by which those goals are expected to be achieved.

Table 1.1. Summary of Geothermal Technologies Office Research Areas and Related Objectives

Geothermal resources span a range of temperatures, depths, and levels of technology readiness. Each of GTO’s subprogram areas focuses on a distinct aspect of geothermal energy and has unique challenges; however, several of GTO’s research activities cut across multiple subprogram areas. For instance, advances in drilling can be leveraged to help advance drilling for hydrothermal, low-temperature, and EGS. As such, GTO has outlined Research Areas that touch on common areas of focus across the four subprogram areas. Each Research Area has a distinct objective, the achievement of which is crucial to GTO’s overall Strategic Goals (as illustrated in Table 1.2). Research Areas are summarized in Table 1.2 and are the basis for the technology plan (Section 2).

GTO’s strategic goals directly feed GTO’s vision, mission, objectives, and MYPP performance goals. These factors are at the core of GTO’s activities and are summarized in Table 1.2.

Table 1.2. Summary of Geothermal Technologies Office Vision, Mission, and Objectives