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DOE OSTI2022

GeoRePORT Protocol Volume I: Background Document

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) uses various metrics to track and measure impacts of its funding meant to catalyze innovation and private investment. As an example, one GTO goal is to “accelerate development of…undiscovered hydrothermal resources” (Williams et al. 2008a). For goals to be useful, however, it is important to be able to develop and measure baseline values, as well as incremental improvements, both at the individual project and aggregated portfolio levels. This need was the driving force behind the development of the Geothermal Resource Portfolio Optimization and Reporting Technique (GeoRePORT).

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DOE OSTI2022

GeoRePORT Protocol Volume II: Geological Assessment Tool

The GeoRePORT System is based on the concept that a geothermal system can be described both in terms of the quality of the geothermal resource as it relates to the potential to extract heat (resource grade) and the progress of research and development over the lifetime of the project (project readiness level). By assessing the major characteristics of a geothermal resource and categorizing the techniques used and how well the research technique was implemented, users can report a resource grade. The resource grade covers multiple geological, technological, and socioeconomic attributes that can be compared across play types and geothermal areas. Resource grade and project readiness level are reported for three assessment categories: geological, technical, and socioeconomic. This protocol document applies to the Geologic Assessment Tool and is intended for use with an excel-based spreadsheet tool, published separately.

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