US Department of Defense expands geothermal development effort in military installations

The United Stated Department of Defense (DoD) has partnered with several geothermal developers on its initiative to develop geothermal power projects in the facilities of the US Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marines.  Six geothermal developers have ongoing agreements via DIU for this effort, and the following are some updates on the ongoing projects:

• Fervo Energy completed conceptual plans for deploying their Enhanced Geothermal System at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada
• GreenFire Energy is developing site-specific geothermal concept designs using advanced subsurface modeling technologies at Naval Air Facility El Centro and will evaluate geothermal energy development potential at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twenty-Nine Palms and Sierra Army Depot, all in California
• Sage Geosystems, in partnership with the University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology, completed reservoir modeling and conceptual designs for Sage’s geopressured geothermal energy system in Army Garrison Fort Bliss and Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, both in Texas
• Teverra, LLC will develop plans and ultimately implement an exploration drilling campaign at the Army’s White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, building on past geothermal exploration activities.
• Zanskar Geothermal & Minerals, Inc is collecting geophysical data and using their specialized AI models to complement drilling plans to assess the potential for geothermal development at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho.

Additional updates and new sites will be announced at a later date. Additionally, DIU is collaborating with the Department of Energy Geothermal Technologies Office, the Department of Interior, Geothermal Trade Associations, Utilities, and State Energy Offices to support progress across the industry to accelerate geothermal development.

This initiative aims to de-risk geothermal development and catalyze geothermal power plant construction across DoD installations. Geothermal has the potential to supply stable and secure round-the-lock power that is safe from electrical grid issues and wildfires, extreme weather, cyberattacks, and other disruptions.

Earlier this year, the Defense Innovation Unit announced the list of 11 US companies that have been deemed “awardable” for geothermal projects in DoD facilities.

“DIU has helped catalyze multiple geothermal initiatives at DoD installations via our existing Other Transaction Authority agreements with various geothermal industry partners,” said Michael Callahan, DIU senior energy advisor and program manager. “While there are challenges to solve and limited resources, we’re optimistic that collectively we’ll be able to overcome the hurdles to ultimately accelerate the speed and scale to deploy new geothermal energy technologies to support national security and baseload energy demand.”

Source: Defense Innovation Unit