Utah FORGE: A Field-Scale Geothermal Laboratory

Presented by Dr. Kristine Pankow, Geological Society of America 2025-2026 Distinguished Lecturer

The Utah Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) is a U.S. Department of Energy funded project to de-risk technologies necessary to make Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) commercially viable. Utah FORGE will not generate energy, instead Utah FORGE is a field-scale laboratory for testing new technologies and hypotheses. No other similar field-scale laboratory exists elsewhere in the world.

This talk will highlight findings and advancements made at Utah FORGE with an emphasis on how seismic monitoring with deep instrumented boreholes and near-surface modeling is providing important details on geothermal reservoir development, strategies for mitigating risks related to induced seismicity, and seismic forecasting utilizing adaptive traffic light systems.

Thursday, October 9, at 1PM MT