View to Lakeview City, Lake County, Oregon (source: flickr/ jonny hayseed, creative commons)
Jacobs has been awarded the contract for a geothermal engineering and feasibility study for a geothermal project in Lakeview, Oregon.
The town of Lakeview in Oregon has awarded their Oregon Department of Energy, Community Renewable Energy Grant to engineering group Jacobs to conduct design and engineering for a planned expansion of an existing geothermal heating network. The contract was awarded in November 2023 following an RFP that was announced a few months prior.
The Town of Lakeview is one of 39 recipients selected by the Oregon Department of Energy to receive Community Renewable Energy Grant Program funds. The program supports the planning and construction of renewable energy or energy resilience projects. The Town of Lakeview was awarded $100,000.
As part of this grant, Jacobs secures $50,000 designated for design and engineering consulting fees. $30,000 has been allocated to Interconnection Studies, with the remaining $20,000 earmarked for administrative expenditures. This allocation underlines a concerted effort to ensure comprehensive coverage across diverse aspects of this initiative.
The collaboration between the Town of Lakeview and Jacobs signifies a progressive stride toward developing a comprehensive understanding of geothermal energy resources and demand models. This strategic venture will analyze geothermal temperatures, pressures, and flow rates, culminating in a forward-thinking Geothermal Strategy Development.
A pivotal aspect of this venture lies in community engagement, as stakeholders and local businesses will be actively involved in exploring the vast potential of geothermal opportunities and their implications for economic development in Lakeview. This project serves as a guiding playbook, addressing intricate climate change challenges with sustainable geothermal solutions, positioning Lakeview at the forefront of environmentally conscious development.
With this strategic alliance, Lakeview and Jacobs aim to pave the way for a brighter, greener future, leveraging the power of geothermal energy to foster sustainable growth and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Project summary
Conceptually, the project will test Hammersley Well which is an existing geothermal well. The flow and temperatures from that test will dictate the design and connection of one existing geothermal district at the Lakeview Department of Corrections facility to a geothermal district in the Lakeview core, including businesses, industrial processes, and residential communities.
The Town currently supplies all the heat to the Warner Creek Correctional Facility, Lake District Hospital, Lake School District #7, Dr. Mark Davis DDS building and the Head Start Building. The system will expand the existing Geothermal Warner Creek Correctional Facility by interconnecting piping and well service buildings.
The result will be an engineering feasibility study that connects all future and existing thermal energy networks, offsetting more than 70% of Lakeview, Oregon’s space conditioning heat demand. This will offset the high cost and carbon-intensive incumbent fuel – propane, lifting a rural community from the grips of energy poverty.
Source: Town of Lakeview