F.E. Warren Air Force Base is on a short list of eight military bases identified by the Air Force Office of Energy Assurance that are going to explore geothermal energy as a way to increase their resiliency.
Fuel supply lines can be interrupted, but geothermal power is on around the clock 365 days a year. Having a source of geothermal power could ensure that F.E. Warren is functional, even if the overall power grid goes down and fuel supply lines are being blocked by catastrophe or an adversary.
The energy resilience project at F.E. Warren will start with a test well, drilled up to 14,000 feet deep to measure the temperature, pressure, and productivity of the Hartville, Guernsey, Flathead, and pre-Cambrian formations.
A solicitation for the test well was posted this summer in August, but the project proposal due date has recently been extended to Nov. 27.
The test well is necessary to nail down the specifics on whether a geothermal power plant could operate at the location.
“Most of the oil and gas wells in the area haven’t gone far enough down to ascertain the physical properties at the location,” U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Military Project Manager Christopher J. Horihan told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday. “So we have a request for proposals out now, so we can get a handle on those physical properties.”
Horihan said 14,000 feet down will be the maximum depth the test well will go to, but it could end before that, if engineers find the right characteristics.
“We brought in some technical experts, and they were able to discern some information on the different geological formations we might encounter on the way down,” Horihan said. “So they have a good representation of what we might find, and I think they’re pretty confident in what we might find.”
That data isn’t conclusive, however, Horihan added, so the test well is still needed to be certain the parameters are right for a project to proceed.
Unlocking New Geothermal Potential Thanks To Oil And Gas
Traditional geothermal techniques rely on rare geological formations of hot water and steam — like those at Yellowstone National Park — to extract thermal energy.
Because of that, Southeast Wyoming has not typically been thought of as a hotbed for geothermal power, but new techniques are being developed all the time that are extending the usefulness of geothermal energy.
One of these techniques actually borrows from the oil and gas industry, using the same hydraulic fracturing technique that shale companies use to extract oil from tight rock formations in plays like the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and the Bakken formation, which is part of the Williston Basin in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and parts of Canada.
In this case, though, the hydraulic fracturing is used to create a geopressured system far below the surface of the earth, where temperatures are really quite hot, from 300 to 600 degrees.
These systems can be either enhanced geothermal systems or closed-loop systems.
Another technique that’s being developed by AltaRock Energy is directed energy technology that melts and vaporizes rocks for removal, which is at least 10 times faster than traditional drilling approaches and can reach greater depths than have been readily achievable by existing technology.
Always On
One advantage to using geothermal energy, which is fueled by heat within the earth’s crust, is that it doesn’t require a fuel supply line to function. And it’s available round-the-clock, rain or shine.
“Greater resilience creates a more lethal and ready DAF today, sandpits the Enterprise in a better position to meet the challenges of the future, regardless of their nature or duration,” Air Force Office of Energy Assurance Director Kirk Phillips said in a project statement.
While geothermal systems can be more expensive up front, their cost-savings down the line can help pay for the project.
In a white paper posted online, Stanley Consultants appears to have already worked up some planning documents for a 3.5 MW geothermal powered microgram that could integrate new and existing power sources all on one power grid.
That project will include a geothermal plant, an 8 MW battery storage system, and existing wind turbines, according to the Stanley Consultants page.
A key feature of the project will be the ability to switch between grid power, on-base resilient power, or generators at all critical facilities.
Warren AFB is not the only location, nor even the first where the military is testing out geothermal power as a resiliency strategy. A $1.9 million contract has already been awarded to Sage Geosystems to build a demonstration plant in Texas.
Sage has been working with Sage the University of Texas on the project. If it’s successful, a full-scale project could be built at Ellington Field Joint Air Reserve Base in Houston.
In addition to the Texas project, the military is also looking at a pilot project at Mountain Home Air Force Base in southwest Idaho in the next three to five years.
Other bases on the list with Warren AFB for geothermal projects include Eielson AFB in Arkansas, Hill AFB in Utah, as well as Peterson AFB, U.S. Air Force Academy, and Schriever AFB in Colorado.
Power demands at these bases range from 3.9 MW for Warren AFB on up to 28.2 MW at Peterson AFB.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
