Next-Generation Geothermal Drilling Continues H&P’s History of Making History

At H&P, our purpose is proven by being a part of defining moments. The opportunity to be a part of that history happened for Toby Kern, drilling superintendent, North District.

“We were the first to drill a horizontal geothermal well in the United States,” said Kern. “That felt good. We accomplished something that was a first for the industry. We have a good team out there, and H&P did it.”

It was a milestone moment in Kern’s nearly half-century drilling career, which began right out of high school, with the past 25 years serving H&P.

It was also a landmark event for the company and the industry at large, remarks Amanda Colyer, regional director of operations, North Region.

“We’re utilizing the ground for energy versus sourcing what’s in the ground,” she said. “That’s revolutionary.”

Colyer has worked at H&P for 10 years, on everything from performance engineering to data analysis, to operations and sales. Despite having experience across the board at H&P, she thinks geothermal might be one of the most exciting projects.

“We’re really on the forefront of research and development,” she continued. “We are in a place of potential transformation.”

But what is geothermal energy—and why does it hold so much promise for our company, the industry and the world?

Put simply, geothermal energy is produced from heat extraction from the earth. Steam is generated from the heat, which spins a turbine and creates electric power. Because the Earth is constantly producing heat, geothermal is an “always on” source of energy that is clean, reliable and renewable. Geothermal can be used to generate electricity and help meet America’s energy needs.

What inspired H&P, one of the industry’s most established contract drilling companies for oil and natural gas, to move into the burgeoning field of unconventional geothermal energy? The same thing that has always inspired us — an innovative spirit to answer a market need with state-of-the-art solutions.

As part of our ongoing efforts to improve lives through efficient and responsible energy, H&P has invested in and strategically partnered with leading geothermal companies that target unconventional geothermal, in other words “geothermal anywhere.” “Geothermal anywhere” is the goal of next-generation geothermal—evolving from the conventional process of harvesting heat from rare hot water resources close to the earth’s surface to using drilling technologies to harvest heat in a wide variety of geologic settings, including hot, dry rock.

It’s a relatively new initiative in the energy industry, but it has already produced results.

This past August, Fervo Energy, a leader in unconventional geothermal energy, raised $138 million in new funding to build, own and operate 24/7 carbon-free power plants. This new funding will help Fervo bring geothermal-powered electricity to people in Nevada and Utah, as well as evaluate new projects in California, Idaho, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico and internationally.

Meanwhile, another leading unconventional geothermal company, Eavor Technologies, announced the commencement of drilling operations for the deepest and hottest directional geothermal well in history, known as Eavor-Deep™. Eavor chose H&P to execute on this significant goal.

What do these two ambitious, history-making geothermal projects have in common? H&P is making them possible, by providing the drilling rigs and associated drilling technologies, as well as the expertise provided by our people.

Big things are happening in unconventional geothermal drilling, and we’re proud to help advance this exciting emerging energy revolution using the proven technologies of hydrocarbon exploration and extraction.

“The goal is to produce electricity, just like you would with natural gas,” said Colyer. “We’re using heat from the Earth to create steam from water.” Despite geothermal energy’s enormous potential, only a fraction has been realized due to technological and economic barriers.

Alongside partners like Fervor and Eavor, H&P is crossing those barriers with the drilling advancements born from H&P’s deep experience in the industry.

“Geothermal drilling is really similar to oil and gas drilling,” adds Kern. “We drill a well. It’s what we’ve been doing for more than 100 years. Our customers want a cased well and that’s what we’re going to provide them. The well profiles and casing sizes are different. Everything is just bigger with more volume. But drilling is what we do.”

While the unconventional geothermal drilling process is trailblazing, Kern said the spirit of discovery makes him feel what H&P’s first drillers must have felt more than 100 years ago.

“We’re learning as we go, facing challenges,” he said. “I knew we could do it. I knew we had the right people in place, and we could go out and get this done for the customer. I had no doubts that we could accomplish this.”

Colyer shares Kern’s enthusiasm, but she points to a more recent comparison.

“To me, it’s kind of like the shale revolution,” she said. “As people really got into it, we had this blow up in the number of rigs and as people became more efficient, they’d drill fewer wells but get more out of it. Effectively, we’re following in the same footsteps with geothermal.”

It’s an exciting time for H&P, our partners, our industry—and everyone who stands to benefit from the promise of geothermal energy.

“The doors are wide open for H&P to move into geothermal,” Kern concluded. “There’s upcoming work in this field that we haven’t touched yet. It’s definitely the future.”