Geothermal Drilling Research

Drilling RD&D against layers of the subsurface going from lowest heat (browns) at the top to highest heat (purple) at the bottom. A drill making a borehole goes down the center of the design, between the Ls in Drilling.Accessing Earth’s abundant underground geothermal resources requires drilling, which can represent more than half of the total costs of a geothermal project. 

The Office of Geothermal (OG) funds drilling research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) to help de-risk and substantially reduce costs to develop geothermal energy. Reducing drilling costs and enabling detailed understanding of the subsurface can help make geothermal competitive with other energy sources—in turn, spurring geothermal deployment.

Geothermal drilling RD&D is part of OG’s work in enhanced geothermal systems and hydrothermal resources. Learn more about other OG initiatives.

 

Next-Generation Geothermal Field Tests and Geothermal Resource Characterization and Confirmation 

On February 25, 2026, OG announced a $171.5 million funding opportunity that includes up to $71.5 million to support characterization and potential confirmation of promising geothermal prospects for next-generation and conventional hydrothermal electricity generation. Under Topic Area 6, OG expects to select 8‒18 projects for exploration drilling activities. These projects will directly support DOE’s emphasis on learning-by-doing, help to identify and focus R&D priorities, and help derisk technologies and resource exploration for industry.  

Learn more about this Notice of Funding Opportunity, its topic areas, and how to apply.

 

Drilling Demonstrations Initiative 

Through the Drilling Demonstrations initiative, launched in February 2022, OG is funding two projects up to $20 million to reduce the cost of developing geothermal energy by improving drilling rates at least 25%. These projects build on earlier DOE research under work like the Efficient Drilling for Geothermal Energy (EDGE) initiative to advance geothermal drilling technology and methods.

Efficient Drilling for Geothermal Energy (EDGE) 

In 2018, DOE announced the selection of seven projects totaling nearly $11.4 million to advance drilling techniques for geothermal energy development. The awardees focused on early-stage R&D projects exploring innovative technologies for drilling geothermal wells that show the ability to reduce non-drilling time, improve rates of penetration, and identify methods to accelerate the transfer of geothermal drilling and related technologies from the laboratory to the marketplace.