STIMULUS UPDATE — FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT
Department of Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Program Enhanced Geothermal Systems Demonstrations Grant
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Enhanced Geothermal Systems Demonstration Grants FOA (PDF) KEY ATTORNEY CONTACTS Elias Blawie 650/843-5060 |
Application Deadline: 05/14/2009 Description of Projects Eligible for Grant Funding Successful creation of an enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) reservoir depends on the ability to engineer a commercially-productive reservoir. The objective of this announcement is to seek projects in a variety of geologic formations that will quantitatively demonstrate and validate stimulation techniques that successfully sustain sufficient fluid flow and heat extraction rates for 5-7 years that produce up to 50 MWe per year per project site/geothermal reservoir. The DOE stated that it will also consider projects to further characterize, stimulate, and validate underutilized geothermal resources, particularly in urban and rural regions with high electricity costs such as Alaska, Hawaii, the eastern U.S., Indian Reservations, etc. This underutilized resource may potentially be re-engineered using EGS technology to produce a commercial geothermal reservoir capable of producing baseload electrical power for transmission to the electric grid or substitution of fossil fuel usage. Awards made under this announcement will be cooperative agreements that will include well stimulation and data collection and analysis over three phases. The projects funded under this announcement will add to the general EGS knowledge base and/or help accelerate technology improvements in order to fully commercialize unproductive or underproductive geothermal resources. Project Phases
Cost Share The recipient cost share must be at least 50% of the total allowable costs of the project and must come from non-federal sources unless otherwise allowed by law. A minimum of 50% recipient cost share will be required for each phase of the proposed project, except for drilling of a target well in Phase I during the project period, if included as part of the project. No portion (0%) of the drilling costs will be cost shared by DOE. Should drilling of the target well yield an unproductive or underproductive geothermal well (with a flow rate less than 60 kg/s) that is suitable for stimulation, the drilling costs may be used as cost share by the awardee (since they occurred during the project period). Any costs incurred prior to the award selection date (such as well drilling, collection of rock/core cuttings, well-field development or power plant construction) are not eligible for consideration as recipient cost share. However, recipient cost share for wells drilled only after December 31, 2008 and prior to the project period start date may be allowable if those costs fall into depreciation covered under an indirect rate agreement or allocation method approved by a governmental agency. Applications with cost share above the minimum level required may be given greater consideration. |