Giant 2-GW Geothermal Project in Utah Gains Federal Approval

nnThe development of America’s geothermal resources has picked up steam, one could say, after the US Interior Department approved a project in Utah that could generate up to 2 gigawatts of electricity.nnHouston-based Fervo Energy received department approval in October for their Beaver County project that is set to start generating energy for clients in 2026.nnWells will be drilled across 631 acres of an area called the Cape, 158 acres of which are public lands.nnFervo said in September that flow rates from the Cape project’s first well test show it has the potential to be the “most productive enhanced geothermal system in history.”nnThe test demonstrated a single well flow rate of steam sufficient for the generation of 10 megawatts of clean energy, triple what earlier estimates had suggested.nnTim Latimer, Fervo CEO and co-founder, says the company “continues to achieve technical milestones for geothermal development that experts predicted to be set decades from now.”nnGEOTHERMAL ADVANCEMENTS LATELY: New Google Geothermal Electricity Project Could Be a Milestone for Clean EnergynnIf the reader is opposed to fossil fuel extraction, then the Cape Project seems a little like poachers being hired to guard elephants, as Fervo has achieved these testing and approval milestones with fossil fuel workers accounting for over 90% of on-site labor.nnThis is because the Cape Project has used many of the same methods of drilling and steam injection collectively referred to as “fracking” only instead of trying to push more oil out of the ground, the water is injected into hot rocks so it turns into the steam used to generate clean energy.nnOTHER AMERICAN-MADE ENERGY: Geothermal Power is Finally a Reality After Next-Generation Breakthrough of Carbon-Free Energy in NevadannFervo hasn’t released cost estimates for the project, and says the power generation will grow in phases, with the total potential to reach 2 gigawatts. If so, Engineering News Record reports that it would tie the national record for geothermal power generation, set in 1987 at a northern California power plant called The Geysers.nnSHARE This Impressive Upcoming Geothermal Development With Your Friends…