Geothermal NEWS

For the past six years, energy companies and Maine residents have been in a fierce stand-off over the construction of a 53-mile power line extension that would deliver 1,200 megawatts of renewable hydroelectric power from Canada to Massachusetts, which is enough to power approximately 1.2 million homes. For two-thirds of the distance, the electricity would follow a transmission line corridor which already exists. But without the 53-mile, 54-foot-wide extension, the $1 billion construction project is a at an impasse. The power line has already received all of its state and federal permits. But in a state-wide vote in November, Maine voters rejected the project. Now, the constitutionality of that referendum vote is being battled out in court and will be decided this summer, according to Anthony W. Buxton, the lawyer representing the power companies that want to complete the transmission line. If the Maine court system rules that the referendum vote was unconstitutional, then the energy companies involved can continue construction.

The Cairn Oil & Gas, India’s largest private oil and gas exploration and production company, has signed a contract with Baker Hughes, an energy technology company, to harness geothermal energy from its repurposed oil and gas wells in Rajasthan. On successful execution, the contract will help Cairn Oil & Gas co-produce up to 2.4 MW of electricity along with oil and gas and offset 17,000 tons of greenhouse gas per annum. This contract follows Cairn Oil & Gas’ recently announced ESG roadmap where it is committed to becoming a net-zero company by 2050, a spokesperson said here on Friday.

Vulcan Energy Resources’ (VUL) pilot plant team has achieved target specification for a direct lithium extraction (DLE) feed into its pilot plant.Vulcan is aiming to become the world’s first lithium producer with net zero greenhouse gas emissions. Its Zero Carbon Lithium Project is set to produce a battery-quality lithium hydroxide chemical product from its combined geothermal energy and lithium resource.

The UK Government has been urged to provide targeted support for the deep geothermal sector to aid the "green recovery" and help deliver a "world leading" industry.The Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA) and ARUP have published their Deep Geothermal Energy: Economic Decarbonisation Opportunities for the United Kingdom report which underlines the environmental and economic potential of deep geothermal.