According to Colin Hickman, a spokesman for Boise Public Works, “We’re getting to a place where the amount of space downtown that we’re heating we felt it was the right time to bring on the third well to ensure that we have redundancy, in case something happens during the winter months, during our peak season so we have some back up for the customers on geothermal heating,”

Interestingly, a third well was dug in 1982, however, it has been not in use. Hickman says this third well is needed. These particular wells in Boise have geothermal water that is approximately 177 F (80 C) degrees when it comes out of the ground and is then pumped in insulated pipes to the downtown locations where the water heats the buildings.

“The buildings will basically take the heat out of that water, use it for their heating purposes in their building, and then that water goes back to Julia Davis Park, and there’s an injection well there that puts that water back into the earth,” Hickman said.

Hickman adds that Boise should be proud of its geothermal system as it eliminates the use of fossil fuels, it’s renewable and it’s an economic driver that will bring businesses in that are interested in this type of renewable energies to the Boise area.

Geothermal energy use in Boise dates back to the 1890s.

Eoin Treacy's view

Geothermal energy has been around for a long time but has been totally reliant on the confluence of shallow heat vents and abundant water. However, it occurs to me that with the advances in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling there is potential for cross pollination between the oil services and renewable energy sectors.

This article from the MIT Technology Review in 2013 highlights some of the work already being done but makes the point that there has been a dearth of investment which has slowed the pace of innovation. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/520361/fracking-for-geothermal-heat-instead-of-gas/

This chart highlights how small the quantity of energy currently derived from geothermal is but also how large the potential resource is; second only to solar.

Ormat Technologies is primarily oriented towards servicing geothermal and other businesses that need heat exchangers. The share remains in a consistent medium-term uptrend and a sustained move below the 200-day MA would be required to question medium-term uptrend consistency.