U.S. DOE Announces $7 Million to Help Geothermal Energy Support a Decarbonized Electricity Grid by 2035

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) announced a funding opportunity of up to $7 million to develop regional grid models to assess how clean, firm geothermal power can support an equitable energy transition through decarbonization and study its effects on the grid at various deployment levels. Geothermal energy has the potential to provide firm, flexible, renewable power to over 65 million homes across the United States. The office’s Geothermal Resources’ Value in Implementing Decarbonization (GRID) funding opportunity focuses on creating new valuation metrics that capture geothermal power’s broader economic and reliability benefits, alongside research on supporting an equitable transition through geothermal deployment. Additionally, it includes the development of visual tools to clearly communicate research findings.

GTO intends to fund regional grid modeling studies within specific power pools, joint utilities groups, utility service territories, or Tribal jurisdictions in the conterminous United States, Alaska, Hawai’i, or U.S. territories. Through this funding opportunity, GTO aims to quantify the role of geothermal power in an equitable, decarbonized grid. This work will address the challenge of grid stability through detailed studies on how geothermal power can support and stabilize the grid as it incorporates higher shares of variable renewable energy sources.

Letters of Intent are required and due July 24, 2024, and applications are due September 9, 2024. Learn more and read the full Funding Opportunity Announcement.  

Email from Department of Energy.