Project InnerSpace, a non-profit organization focused on removing barriers to exponential geothermal growth by 2030, announced that the US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded a $165-million Geothermal Energy from Oil and gas Demonstrated Engineering (GEODE) grant (earlier post) to a consortium formed by Project InnerSpace, the Society of Petroleum Engineering International (SPE), and Geothermal Rising (GR).

The grant will provide $10 million in the first year, which will fund the consortium members, in collaboration with more than 100 partner entities, to develop a roadmap to accelerate the growth and development of geothermal, leveraging expertise, technologies, and methods from the oil and gas industry. From the second year onwards, the DOE will provide up to $155 million in additional funds to finance execution of the plan.

The cross-industry collaboration formed by Project InnerSpace, the SPE, and GR will engage with both oil and gas experts, geothermal startups, and other stakeholders to build consensus around strategies and opportunities for geothermal innovation. The consortium will leverage the oil and gas industry's 100+ years of experience and technological development in drilling and subsurface engineering to address and overcome challenges currently constraining geothermal development.

Over the next five years, the consortium will address four key facets to accelerate geothermal development and production: technology transfer; demonstration and deployment; barriers to expansion; and workforce adoption. Within those facets, the consortium will focus on a variety of pain points constraining geothermal growth, including research and development gaps and roadmapping, stakeholder engagement, funding for keystone projects, and consensus building amongst ecosystem stakeholders.

Accomplishing these goals will contribute significantly to achieving the cost targets outlined in the DOE’s recently announced geothermal EarthShot, bringing down the costs of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) by 90%. The consortium’s ultimate objective is to place geothermal into its proper and central role as the ‘go-to’ secure, reliable, safe, and clean energy source of the future.

Geothermal provides oil and gas professionals an opportunity to leverage our collective expertise and resources to drive sustainable growth in the energy sector. We believe that geothermal energy has the potential to become a key part of the global energy mix, and the oil and gas industry has significant contributions it can make towards achieving that goal. We are excited to be part of this groundbreaking collaboration.

—John Boden of SPE