In a first-of-its-kind project, Google has just opened its geothermal power plant as it is now fully operational in Nevada. The project’s opening marks a major moment in the American company’s overall goal to power its office campuses and data centers. To achieve this remarkable feat, Google is proud considering its target of carbon-free energy by 2030.
Google finds energy for the future
According to the technology giant, they partnered with the green energy startup Fervo, and the facility feeds clean electricity into a local grid connected to the tech company’s Google Cloud operations which is based in Las Vegas.
On top of that, Google also has data centers in Henderson and Reno. According to an announcement made in August, the startup’s geothermal energy procurement differs from traditional methods through its reliance on drilling techniques developed within the oil and gas industry.
Identified as an enhanced geothermal system (EGS), Fervo announced that it first drilled a pair of 7,700-foot-deep wells into a gas reservoir before connecting them through nearly mile-long horizontal pipes.
The Moment understands that the fluid pumped into the reservoir then heats the underground region as high as 376 degrees Fahrenheit.
“Steam then travels to aboveground turbines, which generate clean electricity. During the entire procedure, fiber optic wiring within the wells provides real-time performance monitoring,” reports Popular Science.
“Fervo successfully completed an industry-standard 30-day trial run over the summer at its Project Red commercial pilot site in Nevada.
“At the time, the geothermal plant produced 3.5 megawatts of sustained power – enough to power roughly 2,600 homes. Now, that same energy will help keep the lights on at a handful of Google’s local, resource-devouring data centers.”
Google’s geothermal production is attractive
According to these two technology and energy companies, geothermal production is an increasingly attractive alternative power source to other sustainable industries such as wind and solar.
Because it is capable of providing around-the-clock energy regardless of time or weather conditions, this source of energy is also praised by stakeholders as this is a major step towards finding different sources of energy.
According to federal regulators,120 gigawatts of geothermal energy could come online within the country by the year 2050, which is enough for about 15 percent of the country’s anticipated electricity needs.
Moreover, the US Department of Energy says the country lies above enough geothermal reserves to theoretically power the entire world – yet geothermal energy supplied roughly 0.4 percent of all US energy in 2022.
Why geothermal is a viable clean energy option
A statement released by Google indicates that geothermal is another option for energy, adding that this is possible since it’s difficult to build other renewable energy sources in regions such as the Asia Pacific region.
“Still, geothermal is not yet widely used, because traditional technologies can only be deployed economically in areas where underground heat is easily accessible,” reads the communique published by the tech giant.
“When we began our partnership with Fervo, we knew that a first-of-a-kind project like this would require a wide range of technical and operational innovations.
“Unlike traditional geothermal power, Fervo uses drilling techniques pioneered by the oil and gas industry to harness heat that would have previously been difficult to access.”
Google says from the early stages of this massive work, they were committed to supporting the project’s development to its successful completion and they partnered with the energy startup to overcome obstacles.
“While we’ve started with this project in Nevada, there’s potential for geothermal to grow. We recently announced a partnership with Project InnerSpace, a leading non-profit organization dedicated to the global development of geothermal energy, to accelerate the adoption of geothermal energy.”