Today, the U.S. Department of Energy announced the opening of the American-Made Geothermal Manufacturing Prize (Geothermal Prize). Designed to spur innovation and address manufacturing challenges fundamental to operating in harsh geothermal environments, this prize further supports the ability of the geothermal industry to make progress towards the goal of 60 gigawatts of potential geothermal capacity by 2050—recently highlighted in the Department of Energy 2019 GeoVision Report. The prize was initially announced on January 29, 2020, by U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette.

This announcement, marking the opening of submissions for Phase I of the Geothermal Prize, was announced via Facebook Live by Daniel R Simmons, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).

“Geothermal offers tremendous potential as a reliable, affordable, and clean energy source for millions of American homes and businesses,” said Simmons. “This prize is primed to create a sweeping portfolio of innovations that demonstrate the promise of additive manufacturing for the geothermal industry.”

The Geothermal Prize is a series of progressive competitions, marked by four phases, offering participants a total of up to $3.25 million in prizes for technologies that leverage advances that additive manufacturing can provide in tool design, fabrication, and functionality.

The Geothermal Prize is led by DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) and Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO), and is administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) on the American-Made Challenges platform. 

Please visit the Geothermal Prize page on the American-Made Challenges site for more information, including how to get involved.