The Nevada Governor’s Office of Energy has $1 million to support research that will allow scientists and engineers to develop, test, and accelerate breakthroughs in enhanced geothermal technologies and techniques.
The funding will go to the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) and will allow for geothermal drilling at the Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) site near Fallon, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) research project that builds on Nevada’s history of innovative geothermal development.
DOE awarded funding for the Fallon site in April 2015 as one of five locations chosen after a competitive research phase evaluated underground research sites for enhanced geothermal systems throughout the United States. Nevada was one of two finalists selected by DOE again in September 2016 to advance to FORGE Phase 2, which involves the acquisition of new data to better characterize the site and allow for selection of a final location for FORGE. If selected as the finalist, the Fallon site would become the headquarters for an underground field laboratory to conduct cutting-edge research and development of an enhanced geothermal system (EGS).
