The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has drummed up $20M in funding for seven geothermal projects that will focus on technical and economic feasibility of unconventional geothermal energy technologies. The seven companies awarded funding include Energent Corporation, GreenFire Energy, Modoc Contracting, Oski Energy, ElectraTherm, Louisiana Geothermal, and NRG Energy. Each of these companies will be focused on one of three core areas: low temperature fluids, geothermal fluids recovered from oil and gas wells, and highly pressurized geothermal fluids.

In a statement, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said, “These innovative projects have the potential to expand the use of geothermal energy to more areas around the country. The development of these technologies will allow us to tap into additional renewable energy resources, reduce carbon pollution and create new jobs.”

Chu hopes that these research projects will help lower the cost of geothermal energy and help make the operational deployment of low temperature geothermal units more economical.