Borrowing technology from the oil and gas sector may expand the renewable energy contributions of geothermal energy resources. Startup Fervo Energy reports a breakthrough in enhanced geothermal energy production by means of such cross-sectoral technology appropriation.

Horizontal drilling techniques and fiber-optic sensing tools were successfully deployed to access geothermal resources that are otherwise too expensive or difficult to reach using existing methods. A 30-day pilot project in northern Nevada achieved a flowrate of 63 liters per second at high temperature that enables 3.5 MW of electric production, setting new records for both flow and power output from an enhanced geothermal system.

Fracking technology employed by the oil and gas industry was used to successfully drill the first horizontal well pair for commercial geothermal production, achieving lateral lengths of 3,250 ft and reaching a temperature of 191° C (376° F). The project also demonstrated controlled flow through rigorous tracer testing. Production temperature increased continuously throughout the test, indicating that no significant thermal short-circuit pathways were created during stimulation operations.

The project is scheduled to connect to the grid in the near term and begin providing power for Google’s data center operations near Las Vegas. The geothermal energy system is expected to deliver 5 MW of around-the-clock power to help reduce Google’s reliance on fossil fuels.

Geothermal energy currently generates about 3.7 GW of electricity in the U.S., a contribution that can be significantly increased by deployment of these advanced enhanced geothermal system technologies. A recent analysis conducted by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory concludes that harnessing these resources can provide power equivalent to the needs of more than 65 million U.S. homes by 2050.