Geothermal Technologies Program

Enhanced Geothermal Systems

 As charged by Secretary Abraham, the Office of Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy provides national
leadership to revolutionize energy efficiency and renewable
energy technologies, to leapfrog the status quo, and to
pursue dramatic environmental benefits.

The Geothermal Technologies Program, a critical part of our

overall effort, is making great strides toward increasing the
viability and deployment of geothermal heat and power.
The peer reviewed, focused R&D and supporting outreach
activities conducted by this program will enable broad
expansion of the use of geothermal resources throughout
the western United States. Through federal leadership
and partnership with states, communities, industry, and
universities, we will ensure that geothermal energy is
established as an economically competitive contributor to
the U.S. energy supply. Our program’s success will mean
a stronger economy, a cleaner environment, and a more
secure energy future for our nation.

David K. Garman
Assistant Secretary
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Cover image PIX07667 J.L. Renner/INEEL

Enhanced
Geothermal
Systems
The Navy I geothermal power plant near Coso Hot Springs, California.
How to extract more energy and PIX07667 J.L. Renner, INEEL
power from geothermal resources and fractured. However, due to secondary-

T he Coso geothermal project, located in mineralization processes, those fractures have sealed
California’s Coso volcanic field and about 100 over time, resulting in low permeability and little
miles (161 kilometers) north of Los Angeles, produces or no production of fluids. Through a combination
260 megawatts of geothermal energy. Without tapping of hydraulic, thermal, and chemical processes, the
into any new geothermal resources (just by fracturing target EGS reservoir can be ‘stimulated,’ causing
the existing reservoir), Coso will soon produce another the fractures to open, extend, and interconnect.
20 megawatts of electricity. The additional power This results in the creation of a conductive fracture
will come from applying technology designed to network and a reservoir that is indistinguishable
improve the production of fields like Coso. Known as from conventional geothermal reservoirs. EGS
enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), this technology technology could serve to extend the margins of
should more than double the amount of recoverable existing geothermal systems or create entirely new
geothermal energy in the U.S., as well as extend the ones, wherever appropriate thermal and tectonic
productive life of existing geothermal fields. conditions exist.

EGS Benefits The enhanced production at Coso will come as

DOE’s partners at the University of Utah’s Energy &
• Increased Productivity
Geoscience Institute (EGI) and Caithness Corporation
• Extended Lifetime pump water under high pressure into a portion of
• Expanded Resources the Coso field to reopen sealed fractures in subsurface
• Siting Flexibility rocks. Water pumped into the ground from injection
• Sizing Flexibility wells will then circulate through the fractured rocks,
• Environmental Advantages flow to the surface through existing geothermal
wells, and drive steam turbines. The process, called
With EGS, a new reservoir is targeted within a “hydrofracturing,” is commonly used in oil and
volume of rock that is hot, tectonically stressed, gas production. “We are attempting to tap into less

3
 permeable and less productive margins of existing
geothermal systems,” according to Peter E. Rose,
coordinator of the Coso EGS project at EGI. For up-
Pipeline for Field Distribution
to-date information on this project, see the Coso EGS Provided by Unocal and Calpine
website at: egs.egi.utah.edu/indexcoso.htm.

Geysers Project, California Pump Stations

Electricity provided by Geysers Storage Tank
The Geysers, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) Unocal and Calpine Provided by City
north of San Francisco, is the world’s largest P#4
dry-steam geothermal steam field, reaching peak
production in 1987, at that time serving 1.8 million P#3
people. Since then, the steam field has been in
gradual decline as its underground water source Pine Flat
P#2
decreases. Currently, The Geysers produce enough (uphill segment)
electricity for 1.1 million people.

EGS techniques will also increase the production

Alexander Valley
and extend the life of The Geysers geothermal steam
field. At The Geysers, Calpine Corporation and the
Northern California Power Agency have found a
way to generate more electricity without tapping
additional geothermal resources. They are recharging
existing reservoirs with treated wastewater from
nearby communities. The companies, in partnership
with the City of Santa Rosa, have built about
40 miles (64 kilometers) of pipeline to carry treated
city wastewater to The Geysers. Pipeline to Geysers Storage Tank
Provided by City
PIX00060 Pacific Gas & Electric

Santa Rosa Plain

Pump Station #1
Electricity provided by City

Delta Pond, Santa Rosa

The wastewater from the Santa Rosa project will be

injected into underground wells at a depth of 7,000
to 10,000 feet (2,134 to 3,048 meters), and at a rate
of 11 million gallons (50 million liters) a day for the
next 30 years. This water will be naturally heated in
the geothermal reservoir, and the resulting steam will
be used in nearby power plants to produce electricity.
The project should increase electrical output by
85 megawatts, enough for about 85,000 homes.
A view of several geothermal power plants at The Geysers,
northern California (showing water-vapor emissions during
normal cooling operation).

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A similar project with the Lake County Sanitation Europe (websites at www.dhm.ch/dhm.html
District called the Southeast Geysers Wastewater and www.soultz.net) and Australia (website at:
Recycling System has been operating successfully hotrock.anu.edu.au), and show the promise of
since 1997. This system delivers about 2.8 billion EGS technology worldwide.
gallons (10.6 billion liters) of effluent annually,
and has delivered more than 16 billion gallons EGS technology will initially enable greater efficiency
(60.5 billion liters) of fluid to The Geysers since and sustainability in the extraction of heat energy
operations began. This project was described in the from producing hydrothermal fields. The technology
1999 Geothermal Today in an article titled Turning developed will also set the stage for eventually
Wastewater into Clean Energy. recovering the abundant heat contained in areas not
associated with commercial hydrothermal fields, but
EGS seeks to tap a continuum of geothermal with huge resource potential. This broadening use
resources, ranging from conventional hydrothermal of geothermal resources will strengthen security and
resources to hot dry rock. Nature has been prolific develop needed, clean, domestic energy resources. ■
in providing large quantities of heat in the earth’s
crust, but fluids and permeability are less abundant. DOE Program Goal – Enhanced
With EGS, we hope to “engineer” new and improved geothermal systems should
reservoirs, and foster the economic production of
that heat over long periods of time. Similar research increase geothermal production
and demonstration efforts are well underway in to 20,000 MW by 2020.

EGS Around

PIX 07655 Joel Renner, INEEL

the West
Located in Siskiyou County, California, about 30
miles (48 kilometers) south of the Oregon border,
Calpine Siskiyou Geothermal Partners is developing
and demonstrating new EGS techniques. Specifically,
they are developing stimulation technology to
extract energy from reduced permeability zones
around geothermal wells. This EGS project is part
of a larger development that could result in two
geothermal power plants that each produces 50
The Steamboat geothermal power plant, originally built and now
megawatts of electricity. The plant goes online in
owned by ORMAT, in Steamboat Springs, Nevada.
2004, and Calpine already has a power purchase
agreement with Bonneville Power Administration.
of this project will be the drilling, logging, hydraulic fracturing,
ORMAT Nevada, Inc., a major geothermal operator, plans to and testing of the reservoir, followed by the construction
apply EGS techniques at a prospective geothermal site east and operation of a facility employing EGS technology for
of the operating Desert Peak geothermal field in Churchill commercial power generation.
County, Nevada. They will fracture a low permeability zone
under the ground to enable production of an estimated 2 to 5 The project seeks to demonstrate that: 1) hydraulic fracturing
megawatts of electricity. If successful, this project could have technology can be applied commercially to geothermal
wide application to other geothermal sites in the Great Basin, systems; 2) adequate analytical techniques (such as subsurface
due to the many similarities of subsurface features throughout stress analysis, fracture definition through seismic monitoring,
this geologic province. numerical simulation of fluid flow and heat transfer in fractured
media, etc.) required for an EGS project are already available;
The DOE will share the cost of the Phase I feasibility study of a 3) neither water loss nor cooling of the produced fluid is a
three phase, five-year program to develop a commercial EGS prohibitive barrier to a well-designed EGS project; and 4)
power plant project. ORMAT’s objective will be to develop commercial power can be generated reliably from an EGS
and demonstrate EGS techniques at its geothermal leasehold project. The project relies upon proven technology for reservoir
area, east of the existing Desert Peak Geothermal Facility in characterization and routine wellfield/power plant operation,
Churchill County, Nevada. The objectives of subsequent phases and the application of existing fracturing technology to EGS.

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Energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy will mean a stron-
ger economy, a cleaner environment, and greater energy inde-
pendence for America. By investing in technology breakthroughs
today, our nation can look forward to a more resilient economy
and secure future.

Far-reaching technology changes will be essential to America’s

energy future. Working with a wide array of state, community,
industry, and university partners, the U.S. Department of Energy’s
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy invests in a
portfolio of energy technologies that will:
* Conserve energy in the residential, commercial,
industrial, government, and transportation sectors
* Increase and diversify energy supply, with a focus on
renewable domestic sources
* Upgrade our national energy infrastructure
* Facilitate the emergence of hydrogen technologies
as vital new “energy carriers.”

Biomass Program
Using domestic, plant-derived resources to meet our fuel,
power, and chemical needs

Building Technologies Program

Homes, schools, and businesses that use less energy, cost less to
operate, and ultimately, generate as much power as they use

Distributed Energy & Electric Reliability Program

A more reliable energy infrastructure and reduced need
for new power plants

Federal Energy Management Program

Leading by example, saving energy and taxpayer dollars
in federal facilities

FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies Program

Less dependence on foreign oil, and eventual transition
to an emissions-free, petroleum-free vehicle

Geothermal Technologies Program

Tapping the Earth’s energy to meet our heat and power needs

Hydrogen, Fuel Cells & Infrastructure Technologies Program

Paving the way toward a hydrogen economy and net-zero carbon
energy future

Industrial Technologies Program

Boosting the productivity and competitiveness of U.S.
industry through improvements in energy and environmental
performance

Solar Energy Technology Program

Utilizing the sun’s natural energy to generate electricity
and provide water and space heating

Weatherization & Intergovernmental Program

Accelerating the use of today’s best energy-efficient and renewable
technologies in homes, communities, and businesses

Wind & Hydropower Technologies Program

Harnessing America’s abundant natural resources for clean
power generation

To learn more, visit www.eere.energy.gov

Produced for the

1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585

By the National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
a DOE National laboratory

DOE/GO-102004-1958
August 2004
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