The Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) today announced two U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) installations as the first to receive technical assistance in the Federal Geothermal Partnerships (FedGeo) initiative. FedGeo partners GTO with the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) to help expand geothermal heating and cooling at federal sites nationwide.
The federal government is the nation’s largest energy user and approximately 450 federal sites make up more than 75% of the federal government’s energy use. Converting even a few of those sites to geothermal heating and cooling systems can significantly decrease carbon emissions while increasing resilience and energy security for key federal sites.
The U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York and U.S. Army Garrison Detroit Arsenal in Michigan are the first two sites to receive technical assistance under the FedGeo initiative. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and its partners will provide data analysis, resource characterization, site surveys, and geothermal heat pump and/or geothermal district-scale system design to the sites. These data and information can help DoD assess whether to pursue a geothermal system at these locations. FEMP can then provide support related to identifying the optimal financing mechanism for on-site project development.
