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Geothermal Grant and Loan Program (known as Geothermal Resources Development Account (GRDA) Program)

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The California Legislature established the Energy Commission's Geothermal Grant and Loan Program in 1980 under Public Resources Code section 3800 et seq. It provided 30% of the State's Geothermal Resources Development Account (GRDA) as the source of funding for the program to promote the development of new or existing geothermal resources and technologies. The funds for this account come from revenues paid to the United States government by geothermal developers for leases on federal land in California. Eligible private entities and local jurisdictions can qualify for assistance in geothermal research, development, demonstration, commercialization, planning, mitigation and environmental enhancement projects. The Geothermal Grant and Loan Program is commonly known as the GRDA Program, after its funding source.

Practically all aspects of geothermal research, resource development, demonstration, commercialization, planning, environmental enhancement and impact mitigation are eligible for funding. However, in order to assure that geothermal energy adequately contributes to meeting California's ambitious Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) goals, certain research and technology challenges must be addressed quickly. For that reason, focus areas have been identified to encourage research proposals within those areas.

GRDA Focus Areas

Recent GRDA solicitations provided preferential scoring for some topics that were of particular interest for their potential to accelerate the development of geothermal resources. The focus areas were:

  • Reducing the costs of resource development. Examples of potentially useful technologies include:
    1. Development or application of materials that would reduce the costs of energy production in thermally and chemically aggressive environments.
    2. Design and cost-effective implementation of "smart" tools that sense and respond to conditions during drilling and reservoir development.
    3. Development or demonstration of improved geological, geophysical, or geochemical methods or innovative remote sensing approaches for identifying and mapping hidden resources or characterizing known resources.
  • Approaches for reducing the costs and increasing the efficiency of energy extraction and utilization. Examples of possible approaches to this problem are:
    1. Multidisciplinary approaches for improved, rigorous, reliable projections of reservoir evolution and implementable management options (e.g., remotely evaluating changes in reservoir conditions and properties and developing projections of time-dependent reservoir performance based on those changes, and options for dealing with them; hardware for easier modification of piping architecture, etc.).
    2. Development and testing of strategies for improving the long-term performance of geothermal systems (e.g., hot dry rock systems, stabilization of system pressure).
    3. Development of cascaded applications and combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) into power generating systems.
    4. Development of methods to optimize the placement and distribution of geothermal distributed generation systems.
    5. Development or demonstration of hybrid energy systems that use low or high temperature geothermal in combination with other energy or heat sources (e.g., combined solar-geothermal, oil and/or gas geothermal fluids, other hybrid combined systems).
  • Approaches for improving environmental compatibility, such as:
    1. New approaches for removal and disposal of H2S and/or non-condensable gases in brine streams.
    2. Expansion of resource extraction technologies to include Li, Mn, Cu and other economically valuable resources.
    3. Development of technologies to reduce the corrosiveness of geothermal fluids and clean-up geothermal oil and gas brines so they could be used in power generation applications.

Applicants were encouraged to develop innovative collaborations that would improve the likelihood that information, data, and knowledge would be transferred across technological, scientific, regulatory and economic fields. The intent of doing this was to enhance the visibility of geothermal as an important energy resource, and to improve communication pathways to assure that state-of-the-art strategies and tools are more rapidly disseminated and adopted.

GRDA Project Categories

GRDA projects fall under three categories: Resource Development Projects, Planning Projects, and Mitigation Projects:

"Resource Development Project" means an activity or research that assesses, develops, and/or converts a geothermal resource for direct use or electrical generation. Examples of resource development projects include:

  • Demonstrations or commercialization of geothermal technologies
  • Resource assessment
  • Evaluation, drilling, and testing of exploration, production, and injection wells
  • Electricity production
  • Development of direct-use projects including space heating/domestic water supply, aquaculture, industrial process heat, etc.

"Planning Project" means an activity that regulates and/or guides the development and use of geothermal resources. An example of a planning project is the collection and analysis of environmental data (excluding data collection for permitting or regulatory compliance).

"Mitigation Project" means an activity that identifies the adverse environmental or public service impacts of geothermal energy development, and/or implements measures to reduce or eliminate those impacts. Examples of mitigation projects include:

  • Identification and control of adverse impacts to water, air, wildlife, vegetation, viewshed, ground surface levels, and ambient noise levels
  • Environmental enhancement
  • Identification of social and economic impacts of geothermal development



Reports

California Geothermal Energy Collaborative: Expanding California's Confirmed Geothermal Resources Base - Geothermal Permitting Guide, publication # CEC-500-2007-027, APril 2007. (PDF file, 54 pages, 1.3 MB)

California Geothermal Resources, publication # CEC-500-2005-070, April 2005. (PDF file, 19 pages, 761 kb)

Geothermal Strategic Value Analysis - DRAFT STAFF PAPER, publication # CEC-500-2005-105-SD, June 2005. (PDF file, 43 pages, 1.2 MB)

Identifying New Opportunities for Direct-Use Geothermal Development - CONSULTANT REPORT, publication # CEC-500-2005-108, June 2005. (PDF file, 141 pages, 2.2 MB)

New Geothermal Site Identification And Qualification, publication # P500-04-051, October 2004. (PDF file, 277 pages, 2.8 MB)