Fervo Energy drills a 15,000-foot, 500°F geothermal well

Houston-based Fervo Energy has announced the successful drilling and logging of its Sugarloaf appraisal well, an operational achievement that the company says demonstrates the rapid advancement and scalability of EGS.  

The well, located in Beaver County, Utah, was drilled to a true vertical depth of 15,765 ft (4.8 km) and is projected to reach a bottomhole temperature of 520°F (271°C) after full thermal equilibration.  

Fervo says it completed the Sugarloaf well in 16 drilling days, representing a 79% reduction in drilling time compared to the US Department of Energy baseline for ultradeep geothermal wells.

The company reports achieving multiple drilling records, including a maximum bit run length of 3,290 ft, a maximum average rate of penetration (ROP) of 95 ft/h, and an instantaneous ROP of over 300 ft/h at depths greater than 15,000 ft.  

EGS could supply 10% of US electricity demand

Various geothermal resource evaluation and grid modelling studies – including a recent report by the US Geological Survey (USGS) – have now aligned that there are hundreds of gigawatts of opportunity for geothermal deployment in the range of 10,000–20,000 ft and between 400–600°F.

The USGS report finds that geothermal energy in the Great Basin of Nevada and adjoining states could produce power equal to one-tenth of the current US power supply. The provisional assessment shows potential for 135 GW of baseload power if current technology works at scale in Nevada and the five adjoining states.  

Tech breakthroughs are unlocking geothermal energy’s vast potential

A new International Energy Agency report finds that geothermal energy could meet 15% of global electricity demand growth between now and 2050 – an increase on the 1% of demand it meets today – if project costs continue to decline.

This would mean the deployment of as much as 800 GW of geothermal capacity worldwide, delivering annual output equivalent to the current electricity demand of the US and India combined.

Conventional geothermal remains a location-specific, niche technology today, with most of the installed capacity in countries that either have volcanic activity or straddle tectonic fault lines, which make resources easier to access. Current leaders include the US, Iceland, Indonesia, Turkey, Kenya and Italy. But new technologies are making the outlook for geothermal truly global, the report finds, opening up the potential benefits to nearly all countries.

The report highlights that more than 100 countries have policies in place for solar PV and onshore wind, but only 30 have such policies for geothermal. It notes that moving geothermal up national energy agendas with specific goals, backed support for innovation and technology development, can go a long way to reducing project risk perception and unlocking new investment.

Clear, long-term regulatory visibility for investors will help mitigate risks in early-stage development and help predict likely investment returns, which in turn will improve the cost-competitiveness of geothermal projects. By doing so, the report finds that costs could fall by 80% by 2035 to around $50/MWh. This would make geothermal the cheapest source of dispatchable low-emissions electricity, on a par with existing hydropower and nuclear installations. At such price levels, geothermal would also be highly competitive with solar PV and wind paired with battery storage.  

The report finds that the total investment in geothermal could reach $1tn by 2035 and $2.5tn by 2050. If next-generation geothermal grows strongly in the coming years, employment in the overall geothermal sector could increase sixfold to one million jobs by 2030, according to the report.

The report also highlights the key role of the oil and gas industry in making geothermal more competitive. Up to 80% of the investment required in geothermal involves capacity and skills that are transferrable from existing oil and gas operations. The oil and gas industry can also benefit from tapping the potential of geothermal energy. Not only is it an opportunity to develop new business lines in the fast-growing clean energy economy, but it can also serve as a hedge against commercial risks related to projected future declines in oil and gas demand.

However, permitting and administrative red-tape are proving a major barrier to geothermal projects, which can take up to a decade to fully commission. The report suggests governments could simplify permitting processes by consolidating and accelerating the administrative steps involved.  

New UK ‘super regions’

In other news, the British Geological Survey (BGS) has unveiled ‘super regions’ throughout the UK with the best geological potential to host energy transition technologies, including geothermal energy, and carbon capture and storage (CCS).

According to the BGS, there are eight super regions that contain subsurface formations and conditions that are favourable to multiple different technologies within a relatively small area. These are Northern Ireland, the Scottish Central Belt, north-east England, north-west England, the South Yorkshire and Humber region, the East Midlands and East Anglia, South Wales and south-west England.

Here, the subsurfaces can provide a sustainable heat source for geothermal energy, geological formations for secure storage of energy and CO₂, rocks containing important resources for mineral extraction, and suitable geological foundation conditions for onshore and offshore wind infrastructure projects.

Germany pushes forward with geothermal energy  

Meanwhile, Germany is ramping up efforts to facilitate geothermal energy with a new legislative push aimed at overcoming the high-risk barriers that have historically slowed progress in the sector.

As part of the Geothermal Acceleration Act, the government plans to introduce financial instruments to hedge against exploration risks – a move intended to make geothermal projects more attractive to private investors. Additionally, the coalition promises to establish clear regulations around liability and compensation in the event of drilling-related damages.