Utah FORGE, a University of Utah-managed project, reached a significant milestone by successfully pumping water through an underground reservoir 1½ miles below the surface.
The project, funded by over $200 million from the U.S. Department of Energy, is the nation’s most advanced effort to produce energy from the earth’s core using enhanced geothermal systems.
Geothermal energy has been captured for decades, but this method allows for its use in areas without hot springs. Utah FORGE researchers drilled two deep wells and used fracking technology to break up the rock between them.
For the first time, scientists were able to push water down one well into the fractures and see it come up through the second well. “We do have some connectivity between the two wells,” said John McLennan, a University of Utah chemical engineering professor.
The news brings the project closer to providing a continuous flow of hot water that can produce electricity. Utah FORGE sits in an area with existing renewable energy projects, including PacifiCorp’s Blundell plant and solar farms.
Joseph N. Moore, a U of U civil and environmental engineering professor, described the site as unique due to its dry granite, magma pool, and access to water for heat capture.
Moore referred to Utah FORGE as a “de-risking” laboratory, where experimental data is made public to encourage more development. The project faces significant costs in drilling into granite, but researchers have developed new equipment and materials that can handle temperatures reaching over 400 degrees.
The team used fracking technology combined with horizontal drilling to drill two wells, each 11,000 feet long. The “reservoir” is the extensive system of cracks produced from the fracking, which can be reused continuously in a closed-loop system.
Derisking has also meant learning how to drill faster, and researchers have tested various drill bits, now chewing through granite five times faster than when they started. To be commercially viable, they will need to get to hundreds of gallons per minute.
Source: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/07/07/utah-geothermal-project-hits/