Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy expanded its series of Energy Earthshots to “accelerate breakthroughs of more abundant, affordable, and reliable clean energy solutions within the decade.” The Enhanced Geothermal Shot, aims to reduce the cost of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) by 90%, or $45 per megawatt hour by 2035.
The Utah FORGE project plays a pivotal role in de-risking EGS through tool testing and new technology development. The successful hydraulic stimulation of well 16(A)78-32 and the deployment of seismic monitoring tools at the Utah FORGE site in April 2022 has been captured in this video here.
In the spring of 2023, Utah FORGE will begin the next phase, drilling its second deep deviated well, the production well. Once completed, another hydraulic stimulation, similar to the one in April of 2022, will be conducted to establish interconnectivity between the injection well (16(A)78-32) and the newly drilled production well (16(B)78-38). The work should take approximately 4-5 months.
Additionally, to help further advancements in EGS technologies, in August, Utah FORGE announced Solicitation 2022-2. Now closed, the solicitation provides up to $44 million in funding in five topic areas from seismic monitoring protocols, to high-temperature sensors, tools and zonal isolation technologies to alternative stimulation schemes.
Watch here: Utah FORGE Year 2022 Success Story