Exploring Energy and Technology ADVANCEMENTS

Often energy resources and technologies are critical to the function of our society while also helping us work better and faster. This year, we focused on two topics that represent emerging and innovative technologies that could generate clean energy in support of Oregon’s energy transition.

Enhanced geothermal electricity generation could address some of the high costs and risks associated with conventional geothermal energy development. Fusion power is still in earliest stages of research, but holds the promise of nearly unlimited energy that could easily meet anticipated future energy needs.

Innovation is a cornerstone of fundamental change, and new and improved technologies are certain to play an important role in Oregon’s energy future. This purpose of this section is to provide information on energy technologies that people might be hearing about in the news, talking to their family and friends, or in energy-related discussions.

Previous Biennial Energy Reports have also included resource and technology reviews that cover a range of technologies from traditional to innovative, demonstrating the breadth of resources integral to meeting our state's energy needs. You can find information on other resources and technologies — such as hydropower generation, carbon capture and sequestration, electricity storage, zero emission vehicles, and more — in our 2020 and 2022 reports.

Read full “Resource & Technology Reviews” section

Spotlight on Fusion Power Technology

Fusion energy is what powers the sun, and if harnessed could provide nearly limitless clean energy. New scientific advancements hold promise that one day fusion might also power the electricity grid, but significant research and development challenges must first be overcome.

The Pacific Northwest is a central location for fusion technology research. Several prominent companies in Washington state and British Columbia are conducting reactor research, looking into efficient and affordable ways to produce nuclear fusion-generated power.

Helion, a Seattle-based company, is researching a fusion reactor that would directly generate electricity from the fusion reaction, rather than using the reaction’s heat energy to generate steam. Helion recently signed a power purchase agreement to provide power from its nuclear fusion plant for Microsoft by 2029. If successful, the 50 MW plant would start up in 2028 and begin providing power a year later.

Read full “Fusion Power” section

Electricity Generation in Oregon

There are 459 utility-scale generators in Oregon that provide electricity for homes and businesses throughout the Pacific Northwest. These facilities use a variety of resources, including hydroelectric, natural gas, wind, solar, biomass, municipal waste, landfill gas, and geothermal resources. Hydropower makes up 40% of the energy consumed in Oregon, followed by natural gas at 21% and wind at 11%.

Energy Spotlight: Enhanced Geothermal Electricity Generation

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Geothermal energy comes from heat generated continuously within the earth. The heat can be used as a renewable resource for electricity generation, space and water heating, or industrial processes.

Enhanced geothermal systems, also referred to as EGS, eliminate the risk associated with un-productive wells by harnessing energy from hot, dry rock deep underground.

Enhanced Geothermal System Diagram

EGS uses injection wells to circulate fluid from the surface, where it is heated by passing through fractures within the hot rock. Nearby extraction or production wells collect the heated fluid to generate electricity using a turbine. When the cooled water exits the power plant, it can be reinjected back into the hot rock, resulting in nearly continuous electricity production.

Geothermal in Oregon

Oregon has two geothermal power plants. The first, completed in 2010, is a 1.75-megawatt facility in Klamath Falls, which provides onsite electricity generation and space heating for the Oregon Institute of Technology. The second, completed in 2012, is the Neal Hot Springs geothermal power plant near Vale. This facility has a capacity of 22 MW and provides electricity to Idaho Power. The City of Klamath Falls has had a downtown geothermal district heating system since 1981, and nearby Oregon Institute of Technology has used geothermal heating since 1964.

Community Renewable Development Grant Program

The town of Lakeview also uses geothermal energy for a downtown heating district, and received a Community Renewable Energy Development Grant from the Oregon Department of Energy in 2023 to evaluate the feasibility of a system expansion. Nearby, the Warner Creek Correctional Facility uses a geothermal well to provide space heating and domestic hot water. These facilities, located in Malheur, Lake, and Klamath counties, demonstrate how Oregon’s geothermal resources benefit some of the state’s most rural communities.

Read full “Enhanced Geothermal Electricity Generation” section

Energy Resource and Technology Reviews