US DoE funds 4 projects for geothermal energy from oil and gas wells

The US Department of Energy (DoE) this week said it will provide up to USD 8.4 million (EUR 7.3m) to four projects to produce geothermal energy from abandoned oil and gas wells.

Geothermix LLC of Austin, Texas will get USD 2.5 million to generate geothermal electricity from waste heat from existing oil and gas wells in Texas.

ICE Thermal Harvesting of Houston, Texas will receive USD 1.7 million for a project to use innovative generation technology to produce electricity from 11 existing oil and gas wells in California’s San Joaquin Valley.

Aurora, Colorado-based Transitional Energy has been awarded USD 2.5 million to install geothermal heat engines at Blackburn Oilfield in Nevada for power generation. The company will also build new rural electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

A USD-1.7-million award will help the University of Oklahoma to produce heat from an Oklahoma oilfield for use in schools in Tuttle, Oklahoma.

“These efforts will demonstrate how to leverage our existing oil and gas workforce and infrastructure, bringing more geothermal energy online and transitioning our energy workforce into the growing clean energy economy,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Kelly Speakes-Backman.

The awards are part of the Wells of Opportunity initiative of the Geothermal Technologies Office which was launched in 2020.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.872)

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