Today (Jan 16), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) announced $30 million to increase geothermal power production by unlocking superhot reservoirs deep within the Earth. Currently, geothermal baseload production in the U.S. is limited to 4 gigawatts (GW). ARPA-E's Stimulate Utilization of Plentiful Energy in Rocks through High-temperature Original Technologies (SUPERHOT) program aims to provide access to superhot reservoirs capable of producing 10-20 GW of reliable baseload power at a competitive cost.
"Geothermal is a reliable and secure baseload power source, but today we are only able to access a fraction of the energy it can provide," said ARPA-E Director Evelyn N. Wang. "SUPERHOT projects can change that and allow access to hotter reservoirs to create more domestic flow of energy onto America's grid."
The SUPERHOT program will explore modification of conventional well designs or completely novel designs, materials, and materials systems that satisfy requirements to survive superhot conditions. SUPERHOT's goals are to develop robust geothermal well construction capable of a 15-year operational life and enable transfer of heat from the surrounding geologic formation to the well. Projects will seek to enable access to resources with temperatures greater than 375 °C and pressures greater than 22 megapascals.
SUPERHOT builds on ARPA-E's history of support for enhanced geothermal projects. ARPA-E's work in this area includes supporting industry leaders Fervo Energy, AltaRock Energy, and Eden Geopower.
Visit the ARPA-E eXCHANGE website for more information about SUPERHOT, including key guidelines.
ARPA-E is the disruption wing of the DOE that funds and directs the discovery of outlier energy technologies that are strategic to America's energy security. Learn more about these efforts and ARPA-E's commitment to ensuring American-made energy for all through U.S. leadership in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies.
Press and General Inquiries:
202-287-5440
ARPA-E-Comms@hq.doe.gov
