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| Maps of temperature-at-depth for West Virginia. Red points represents locations of actual drilled temperature, the triangle is the deepest well in the dataset. (Courtesy SMU) |
Geothermal energy could supply 31,000 megawatts of electrical generation capacity in the state, as a conservative estimate, nearly twice the state's current installed capacity from all sources of 17,000 megawatts.
That's an estimate from Zachary Frone, geology graduate student at Southern Methodist University, whose work led to the discovery in 2010 of the West Virginia geothermal anomaly. Frone spoke at the Enhanced Geothermal Energy Development Conference May 22 in Flatwoods.