With the hope of having an idea of the Icelandic nation, which feeds most of its geothermal power grid, proponents of the energy source say that they are expecting a ramp in American projects, as it receives more close attention from the fossil and government fuel sector. Although there are important projects underway, only 3 GW of Geothermia have reached the United States so far with high costs and uncertainty about the tax incentives of the Biden era that are seen as obstacles.
By going to a recent panel organized by Think Tank Non-Partidist The Atlantic Council, Colorado governor Jared Polis (D) said that his state considers that Geothermal is key to reaching his goal for renewable energy of 80% by 2030 and that his energy permits agency has been renewed for fast development projects.
By pointing out the Specific Fiscal Credit of Colorado’s Geothermia, Polis stated his support for a federal credit similar to being approved by Congress, which is also defended by the Western Government Association in a new report.
While production and investment credit rules were completed with President Joe Biden in January, President Donald Trump may not execute them and Congress can still annul them under the Congressional Review Act.
“In order to provide certainty of the market and foster continuous investment, Congress must prioritize the protection of existing tax incentives that already support the deployment of geothermal technology,” said Heather Reams, President of Citizens for responsible energy solutions, in a March 3 opinion.
Cost cut
Technology adapted from oil and gas perforation has been used to reduce costs and increase efficiency in the development of improved geothermal systems, said the Earth’s Stanford University Sciences Professor, Roland Horne, a United States expert. It is to inject the liquid into rock formations to improve permeability, allowing to extract heat and generate steam power. “This is not a wealthy plug and play, it is necessary to make a lot of adaptation,” he said, quoting the extreme temperatures found in geothermal perforation that are never found in oil exploration.
Geothermal Workshop, held at the University of Stanford for 50 years, increased its attendance last year, with more purchase in the oil and gas companies sector.
Photographic credit: Roland Horne, Stanford University
Horne said that perforation wells involve “main capital costs with considerable geological uncertainty”, but innovations adapted to the hydraulic fracture of the oil sector and the horizontal perforation methods could make the systems “economically competitive on much of the United States.”
In a recent analysis of 3,000 words, Horne and other academic experts and industry detail how innovations in high -temperature drilling, integrity and subface modeling reduce costs and extend the extent of geothermal beyond western traditional points. With these improvements, they said, improved geothermal could reach $ 4,500 per kW vegetable costs and a $ 80 electricity cost per hour of MW, competitive with market electricity prices, by 2027.
They cite projects in Europe and the United States, including commercial operations that have shown long -term reliability.
Market prospects generated a record participation last month in the “Workshop” event in the Horne Industry on Stanford Campus, in progress since the 1970’s, with lower costs that attracted more energy companies and others as investors. Oilfield Services Firm Baker Hughes is an investor in Greenfire Energy Geothermal Startup and is exploring ways of repopulating petroleum wells not profitable as the geothermal systems of the closed loop.
“Energy Domain”
Tim Latimer, CEO of the Fervo Energy Geothermal Developer, said in the Atlantic Council event that the market could reach 300 GW by 2050. He claimed “50% of costs reduction this year”, in company projects, highlighting a demonstration project in Nevada started in 2023 for Google that now enhances its data centers. Fervo also plans to build its first floor on a useful scale in Utah, with southern California Edison to take off.
Also a key geothermal investor with estimated $ 10 million in Fervo is the developer of Petroleum and Gas Liberty Energy, of which U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright is a founder and former President-CEO. Geothermal technology gained funding support under the 2022 inflation reduction law and is also among the sources in the list of “energy domain” priorities of Trump administration.
“ A mature geothermal industry could “ better energize our country … Allow the AI, the manufacture and the restart and to stop the increase in our electrical prices, ” Wright said at the Gelation Geothermal Conference: Modern Advances in Washington, DC, on March 4, in which the hill described as a “ republican oriented event. ” Making innovations … and taking this next step. ”
Latimer defended the need for “continuity around tax credits and the rationalization of permits, so we can reduce our project construction deadlines to help the investment profitability,” he said “we must bring it to the bank, to remove the capital out of margin.”
Brian George, the Google Energy Policy Development Leader and another Atlantic Council Panelist, noted the potential of Geothermia for “24/7 power to meet the demand 24 hours a day as a catalyst for the” financial skin of the game “. He described” a bunch of capital ready to go “, but also said that the federal, state -owned, The expansion of the transmission to ensure energy safety.
Ravi I. Chaudhary, a former Deputy Secretary of the United States Air Force, Facilities and Environment, emphasized the urgency of energy security to the Atlantic Council’s public. “We need to raise our game in innovation for the next decade; otherwise, our opponents … and global competitors will do so,” he said.
He pointed out pilot projects at the Texas and Idaho Air Force, which began in the previous administration, which will determine if geothermal systems could disconnect from the network and still maintain base operations in the event of power disturbance or another emergency. “Geothermal is a natural methodology through which we can create redundancy and teach our facilities against possible threats,” he said. The United States Department of Defense has included 11 geothermal energy developers, including a technological acceleration program with possible projects on a combination of its bases.
The subjection of the geothermal expansion of the United States is the development of the workforce. Latimer emphasized the adaptable skills from decades of oil and gas drilled, claiming that the need for the limited collection of veterans in the sector is “a unique competitive advantage in the United States”.
But Morgan D. Bazilian. Public policy professor at Colorado School of Mines warned that competition is interested in next generation experts, saying that 100% of their students get multiple job offers. “If we do not find ways to do [geothermal] Impulsive … we will not form the template of the future we need, “he said.
