The U.S. Department of Energy is investing $60 million to demonstrate the efficacy and scalability of enhanced geothermal systems to help tap into the heat trapped underground, which can be used as clean, renewable energy.
The agency selected three projects to receive the funds — Chevron New Energies, Fervo Energy, and Mazama Energy.
Chevron’s pilot project will utilize new drilling and stimulation techniques to access this heat energy near a geothermal field in California’s Sonoma County. Fervo will work within Utah’s Milford Renewable Energy Corridor and adjacent the DOE’s Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) field laboratory with an aim to produce at least 8 megawatts of power from each of three wells. Meanwhile, Mazama aims to advance the science needed to operate in extremely hot conditions.