After three years of planning, site characterization, and competition, the proposed site outside of Milford, Utah, has been selected as the location of the Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) field laboratory. This new FORGE site is dedicated to research on enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), or manmade geothermal reservoirs.
Currently, American geothermal electricity production is located solely in the western states, where conventional geothermal resources put about 3.8 GW of electricity on the grid.
Manmade geothermal reservoirs can be engineered wherever hot rocks are found, and since such formations are almost ubiquitous – they just vary in depth – those reservoirs have the potential to be utilized practically everywhere. EGS could significantly expand geothermal energy production, with an estimated 100 GW of currently inaccessible resources, removing the geographic barriers of conventional geothermal resources.
Critical to broad EGS deployment, FORGE will be a laboratory where scientists and researchers can learn how to engineer these manmade systems. The geothermal community will gain a fundamental understanding of the key mechanisms controlling EGS success; develop, test, and improve new techniques in an ideal EGS environment; and rapidly disseminate technical data and communicate to the public.
More information about DOE’s Geothermal Technologies Office can be found HERE.
