The “RenewGeo” concept and future project by Reno-based company Unified Collective (UC) Won announced in February that it had secured leases at two existing geothermal production wells in Churchill County.
Its next step is procedural: a request for an advisory opinion from the Public Utilities Commission that the company not be considered a “public utility” and thus operate with more regulatory flexibility than other power plants in the state.
According to a white paper describing the project, the concept of renewable geothermal or “RenewGeo” is designed to address two problems — use of carbon-based fuels accelerating climate change, and difficulties in intermittent renewable-based energy sources, such as solar or wind, that are less reliable and produce most of their energy at non-peak times.
Instead, “RenewGeo” is an attempt to meld geothermal energy with large-scale solar — essentially using created solar power and “storing” it by pumping heat into the ground into old or unusable geothermal wells, where it can then be used on a controlled, regular basis to produce carbon-free, renewable energy. The white paper estimated that eight hours of solar power would create enough energy to provide 24 hours of reliable power from the geothermal process — a way to “store” renewable energy without producing or using lithium-ion batteries or other methods.
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From the Global Geothermal News Archives:
- Tuesday, February 12, 2019 - USA, Nevada: Solar Augmented Geothermal Energy Project to Be Tested on Existing Wells
