As part of a U.S. Department of Energy Geothermal Technologies Office funding opportunity, Geysers Power Company, LLC, an indirect subsidiary of Calpine Corporation, partnered with Sandia National Labs, EGI at the University of Utah, and Texas A&M University to demonstrate increased drilling performance at The Geysers Geothermal Field.
The project has leveraged advances in oil and gas drilling technologies including polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bits, along with the physics-based limiter redesign techniques championed in prior DOE drilling demonstrations.
A major goal of the project is to reduce drilling time and costs.