Meeting speakers: Geothermal potential barely touched in Utah

By Brice Wallace 

While Utah is ranked third among states in geothermal power generation, speakers at an energy conference last week believe the state has barely drilled the surface of its potential.

Behind only California and Nevada, Utah has three geothermal projects that produce a combined 73 megawatts of electrical power. But attendees at the Geothermal Resources Council annual meeting and Geothermal Energy Association’s expo heard that Utah could generate much more.

“We believe an additional 1,500 megawatts of electrical energy generation can be produced in Utah, and who knows what the future will be with additional technology and advancements on the research?” Gov. Gary Herbert said at the meeting’s opening activities at the Salt Palace Convention Center. “The good news is it’s a continuous, good, clean source of affordable power, which will help us with our baseload needs as we go forward as a country.”

{mprestriction ids="1,3"}Council and association documents contain different figures, with one indicating Utah has 1,300 megawatts of untapped geothermal potential in the state — enough to power one-third of the state — while another says geothermal potential in Utah is about 2,000 megawatts in baseload power, or 11 percent of the state’s electricity consumption. If fully developed, those resources could create 5,100 person-years of construction jobs and 1,800 full-time jobs and reduce carbon emissions by 10 million metric tons, documents show.

Beyond electricity generation, geothermal has direct uses, like a project near Newcastle where geothermal water is used to heart 25 acres of greenhouses. It also can be used for heat pumps to control temperatures in homes and commercial and public buildings.

Proponents hail geothermal’s attributes, such as availability at all times, reliability, versatility, a relatively small land footprint per kilowatt produced, and environmental cleanliness.

Speaking via video, Daniel Simmons, acting assistant secretary in the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, said that preliminary results of an office study show that geothermal has the potential to support 235,000 full-time jobs in power generation by 2050 nationwide, plus 70,000 jobs in the heat pump industry.

“Honestly, that is remarkable potential,” he said, adding that geothermal could be used for 80 percent of nation’s electricity generation by 2050.

“I’m pleased to see what I would call a renaissance on geothermal as an economically viable option out there for creating heat,” Herbert said. “With the advancements of technology, things that we thought were impossible 40 years ago are not only possible but, in effect, desirable today, so with the new technology we can drill deep, we can access that hot water, we can control it and use it to turn the heat into electrical energy.”

The governor said Utah has taken an all-of-the-above approach based on competitive, free-market principles in developing its energy strategy. Energy and education are foundations to a good economy, he said.

“If you don’t have energy to drive your economy, for the things we do in life, for all the different things we have powered by energy, your quality of life diminishes and you have economic sluggishness. And you can see that around the world, where those who have energy are having success economically and those that don’t have energy are struggling,” Herbert said.

Utah embraces technology, which can address most of society’s challenges, he said. “And are committed to investing in the future in technology and opportunities in geothermal,” Herbert told the crowd. “We want Utah to be a leader, not only in energy overall, but certainly in the geothermal space as well.”

Jon Cox, vice president of government affairs at Rocky Mountain Power, noted that the utility’s portfolio includes coal, hydro, wind and solar resources, including a 34-megawatt Blundell geothermal facility near Milford, which became operational in 1984.

The utility takes a long-term view on power generation projects and its customers are speaking out about their desire for the increased use of renewable resources, he said. “Our customers are changing. They are demanding new things. As a utility, we recognize that, we’re offering that, we believe geothermal certainly plays a role in that and we’ll continue to do that as we move forward,” Cox said.

“There is a need,” said Nick Goodman, chairman and chief executive officer of Salt Lake City-based Cyrq Energy, which has a geothermal power plant in Beaver. “There is a desire. There is a will. There’s a market out there that’s structured a little differently, it’s packaged a little differently, but I think there is a home for this energy and there’s a desire for more of it.”

Not only does geothermal compete in the energy marketplace with coal and natural gas but also with utility customers’ increased use of wind, solar and other renewables. Goodman said that having a diversified portfolio for utilities is a good thing.

“We don’t want the whole pie. We just want a piece of the pie,” he said. “We think that makes sense, that thermal plays a role. It’s a piece of the pie and an important piece going forward.”

Boosting geothermal efforts in Utah was an announcement last week that the University of Utah is finalizing agreements to supply half of its electricity needs from renewable energy sources. The joint proposal calls for Cyrq to provide 20 megawatts of geothermal energy and Berkshire Hathaway Energy Renewables (Rocky Mountain Power is a Berkshire Hathaway company) to provide 10 megawatts of solar energy to the university for the next 25 years. The proposal requires the approval of the Utah Public Service Commission.

The project would result in a 25 percent reduction of the university’s overall greenhouse gas emissions.

“This project connects the university to a diverse array of energy resources that are important to the economic health of our state,” David W. Pershing, university president, said in a prepared statement. “Both our Energy and Geoscience Institute and our Department of Geology and Geophysics are known for their work on geothermal resources. We are pleased to be part of a project that so closely aligns with our research strengths and allows the university to take a dramatic step forward on its climate commitment and toward improving air quality.”{/mprestriction}