The U.S. Department of Energy announced a new collaboration between the Office of Fossil Energy (FE) and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) Geothermal Technologies Program (GTP) to demonstrate low-temperature geothermal electrical power generation systems using oilfield fluids produced at the Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center (RMOTC).

The objective of this multi-year collaboration is to demonstrate the versatility, reliability and widespread deployment capabilities of low-temperature geothermal electricity production systems that work off of the co-produced water from oilfield operations. These systems turn otherwise discarded water into an energy resource. The electricity produced is utilized to power field production equipment, which offsets purchased electricity; other applications are being explored.

Ultimately the GTP hopes to collect operational and performance data for various climates and system configurations. This information will be freely available, educating the industry and public about the high potential of geothermal renewable energy from co-produced water. With an estimated 10 barrels of hot water produced along with each barrel of oil in the United States, there is significant resource potential for this technology.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy

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