USA, California: Coso KGRA Chosen to Demonstrate Supercritical CO2 Geothermal Energy Project

GreenFire Energy Demonstration Project (News Release)

Coso, California, July 2017- October 2018

ECO2G accesses heat in the deep, very high temperature and low-permeability, “plastic zone” of the earth.(Courtesy GreenFire Energy)

GreenFire Energy is preparing to execute the first demonstration project for ECO2G™ – geothermal power generation using supercritical CO2 in a closed-loop system. ECO2G is a dramatically different geothermal power generation technology that will enable thousands of megawatts of new carbon-free power plants in California and other markets.

This innovative technology utilizes commercially-proven, off-the-shelf components to produce clean, grid-scale baseload and flexible power at competitive prices without process water consumption. Unlike conventional hydrothermal projects, ECO2G uses supercritical CO2 (SCO2) instead of water to move thermal energy through the system. A successful demonstration project
is the crucial next step needed to commercialize ECO2G.

GreenFire will design, build, and operate an ECO2G demonstration plant using an underperforming hydrothermal well at the Coso KGRA in Inyo County California. This project will be the first field-scale demonstration of ECO2G technology for geothermal power production.

The project is expected to prove that ECO2G can both make utility scale power in large, co-located or greenfield projects or make power from currently unproductive wells. It is anticipated that the project will generate sufficient data to guide the development of commercial projects ranging from 20 MW to 1000 MW.

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