The Department of Energy is hosting a competition with a grand prize of $3.3M to discover new additive manufacturing innovations in the field of geothermal technology.
The American-Made Geothermal Manufacturing Prize is a four-stage challenge that allows participants to explore the applications of 3D printing in designing, producing and enhancing tools, the Department of Energy said Thursday.
The contest is intended to support the DoE’s goal to generate 26 times more geothermal power by 2050, resulting in 60 gigawatts of installed capacity. Entry is open, but not limited to, business owners, company employees, research scientists and university students and faculty.
“By creating incentives for new approaches to device design, this prize will help unlock the full potential of geothermal power as a clean, reliable, affordable energy source for American homes and businesses,” said Dan Brouillette, U.S. Secretary of Energy.
The DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Office and Advanced Manufacturing Office is in charge of the competition.
The different phases of the competition will be managed on the American-Made Challenges platform by a partnership between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
