Fervo Energy has secured about $20 million in US Department of Energy grants to accelerate development of enhanced geothermal systems in Idaho and Nevada, the company said on Tuesday.
Fervo will use one grant to drill and complete EGS wells in Elmore County, Idaho, in partnership with several national laboratories. The project will also test technology designed for high-temperature geothermal operations, including advanced geophysical data collection using high-temperature geophones.
The second award will fund an appraisal campaign at a high-priority EGS prospect in Humboldt County, Nevada, to determine whether the underground reservoir is suitable for development.
The energy firm's Project Red commercial pilot in Nevada has been generating 3 megawatts of gross power for the state's grid since 2023. It is also developing Cape Station, its flagship geothermal project in Milford, Utah, with support from an earlier DOE EGS Pilot Demonstrations program award.
Fervo has also worked with the DOE's Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office and the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy on initiatives to improve EGS technology and reduce the cost of geothermal power.