OU earns funding to tap geothermal energy in abandoned wells

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a $1.7 million grant to the University of Oklahoma to tap abandoned oil and gas wells for geothermal energy.

It’s part of a wider program that will see the DOE, in partnership with well owners and operators in at least four locations, attempt to tap geothermal potential in idle or unproductive wells.

Specifically, OU is to put money to use on a project to benefit schools in the town of Tuttle by utilizing heat found beneath a nearby former producing oil field. Goals are to save the schools money on utility costs as well as to advance geothermal energy research and development.

According to a release, transforming certain oil wells into geothermal wells could yield numerous benefits while supporting the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of a carbon-free grid by 2035.

“With this initiative approach, we can transform existing fossil fuel wells into productive sources of sustainable, clean geothermal energy,” said Kelly Speakes-Backman, DOE’s deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Speakes-Backman said the investment also could lead to the creation of new jobs and smooth the transition of people from the current oil and gas workforce.

“These efforts will demonstrate how to leverage our existing oil and gas workforce and infrastructure, bringing more geothermal energy online and transitioning our energy workforce into the growing clean energy economy,” she said.

The DOE has identified four projects in all to receive some $8.4 million. They include:

• Geothermix LLC in Austin, Texas, will harvest waste heat from existing oil and gas wells to generate commercial quantities of geothermal electricity.

• ICE Thermal Harvesting in Houston, Texas, will produce electricity from 11 existing oil and gas wells in California’s San Joaquin Valley using an innovative power generation technology.

• Transitional Energy of Aurora, Colorado, will install state-of-the-art, American-made geothermal heat engines at Blackburn Oilfield in Nevada for electrical power production. It also will construct new rural electric vehicle charging infrastructure;

• OU, with access to four hydrocarbon wells within a mile of schools in Tuttle, will produce heat for use by the schools. The schools will benefit from “recycling” of oil and gas infrastructure.

A major package of energy legislation enacted in December represented the first major update of American energy policy in 13 years and included more than a dozen bills from the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. One, championed by Oklahoma 3rd District Rep. Frank Lucas, focused on advancing geothermal research and development to yield more competitive, innovative clean energy.

“Oklahoma, and the United States as a whole, has tremendous potential to utilize its geothermal energy resources – resources that have the capability to provide efficient and reliable energy for many of our communities,” Lucas said in a statement.

He said Oklahoma and OU are well-suited to carry geothermal initiatives.

“Oklahoma has a long history of harnessing energy resources,” Lucas said. “The University of Oklahoma continues to be a pioneer in geothermal systems, and I’m excited to see their technologies strengthen our country’s all-of-the-above energy strategy and provide reliable energy to Oklahoma’s communities.”