32 DECEMBER 2024 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Detroit Arsenal Taps into Geothermal Power Adapted from Information by the U.S. Army Earlier this year, the Detroit Arsenal drilled down to power up the installation of an exploratory geothermal well as part of a Federal Geothermal Partnership (FedGeo) initiative with the Department of Energy. This comprehensive project will provide data analysis, resource characterization, site surveys, and geothermal heat pump and/or geothermal district scale. Led by Oakridge National Laboratory, the technical assistance team offers strong expertise in the low-temperature geothermal space and includes three other national labs: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, as well as Oklahoma State University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Illinois State Geological Survey, and the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association. The drill team was comprised of employees from Michigan-based Midwest Geothermal. Shannon Bergt, energy manager at U.S. Army Garrison Detroit Arsenal, currently on special detail to U.S. Army Installation Management Command’s ID-Sustainment, is the lead on the effort at Detroit Arsenal and is excited about what this partnership means for the installation’s renewable resource and environmental mission. “This is an incredible opportunity for the Detroit Arsenal and the Army,” she said. “This partnership will provide Detroit Arsenal access to technical experts and capabilities we would normally not have access to. The extra geotechnical analysis provided through this partnership will allow for more accurate geothermal system designs based on actual site data to optimize long-term performance. A well-designed system will allow the installation to meet and exceed current Army requirements for greenhouse gas reduction and renewable energy systems, while enhancing energy resilience for 50 years or more.” Breaking down the numbers, geoexchange systems can reduce energy consumption and corresponding emissions by more than 40% compared to air source heat pumps and by over 70% compared to electric resistance heating with standard air-conditioning equipment, according to Bergt. “Geothermal technology provides the Detroit Arsenal long-term opportunities to reduce energy consumption on not only traditional office buildings, but also research and development facilities. The geotechnical data collected by the University of Wisconsin team will inform more accurate building modeling, leading to environmentally cleaner, and more energy efficient, infrastructure projects for the future,” she explained. Members of the Detroit Arsenal and FedGeo partnership team display the U.S. Army Installation Management Command flag at the site of their newly drilled geothermal well. Members of the University of Wisconsin-Madison team analyze real-time data from fiber-optic cable places in the geothermal well at Detroit Arsenal. The team compared local geologic data to soil samples collected as part of their assessment. All photos by Shannon Bergt. GEO
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