An agreement has been signed between the U.S. Department of Energy and the Utah Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) to continue the project through 2028. The agreement includes an additional $80 million in funding over the next four years. The extension begins October 1 and will allow Utah FORGE to build on the significant breakthroughs that have been realized since the program started.

Managing Principal Investigator Dr. Joseph Moore said: “We are grateful to the DOE for their on-going commitment and support of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) research. This next phase allows us to build on our important achievements and to further develop and de-risk the tools and technologies necessary to unlock the potential of next-generation geothermal power.”

Utah FORGE is managed by a team at the Energy & Geoscience Institute, part of the University of Utah’s John and Marcia Price College of Engineering.