Enhanced geothermal systems in the Great Basin could supply 10% of U.S. electricity demand

Enhanced geothermal systems in the Great Basin could supply 10% of U.S. electricity demand

Provisional assessment shows potential for 135 gigawatts of baseload power – if current technology works at scale in Nevada and 5 adjoining states

RESTON, VA. — Geothermal energy in the Great Basin of Nevada and adjoining states could produce electricity equal to one-tenth of the current U.S. power supply, the U.S. Geological Survey assessed in a paper released today. 

The projected 10 percent would be a major increase, as geothermal energy currently generates less than 1 percent of the nation’s power supply.  The new assessment, which updates a 2008 USGS assessment, depends on widespread commercial-scale development and continued successful application of evolving and emerging technologies, many of which have been developed over the past several decades in the geothermal and oil and gas industries. 

“USGS assessments of energy resources are about the future,” said Sarah Ryker, acting director of the USGS. “We focus on undiscovered resources that have yet to be fully explored, let alone developed. We launched this work in the Great Basin because of the area’s history of geothermal activity – and we found even more potential for baseload power than had previously been known. Leveraging this work along with artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques will help us assess the entire nation’s potential for geothermal energy with greater speed and accuracy.”

Almost all existing geothermal power production comes from hydrothermal systems, in which groundwater naturally circulates through heated rocks.  However, there are far more areas where heat is trapped in impermeable rock, where technology is needed to produce geothermal energy. In enhanced geothermal systems, engineers create open fractures in impermeable rock down to 3.7 miles (6 kilometers) below the surface allowing water to circulate and extract heat to generate electricity.