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    US Air Force selects Geothermal Collaboration to Create Microgrids at Military Bases

    March 13, 2025
    The collaboration on converting geothermal into on-site electricity for bases includes GE Vernova, Energy Systems Group, Sage Geosystems and the University of Utah.
    Image credit Alrasqiquin/Shutterstock.com
    67d2f3fe53b709d7077d32b4 Geothermal Shutterstock

    The U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense have selected a team collaboration including power generation equipment firm GE Vernova and the University of Utah to explore ways to tap geothermal for future renewable and hydrogen energy microgrids at military bases.

    The Air Force and DoD’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Office wants insights on developing utility-scale geothermal power plants in the U.S. and abroad to supply bases with electricity.

    The selection was finalized through the Chief Digital and AI Office’s solicitation process known as the Tradewinds Solution Marketplace. Tradewinds was designed to accelerate procurement and  adoption of mission critical technologies such as AI, machine learning and resilient energy systems which could include microgrids.

    “The U.S. Air Force leveraged the Tradewinds solicitation process to quickly collaborate with innovative American companies to build resilient, next-generation geothermal technologies at our bases, using private capital instead of taxpayer dollars,” said Kirk Phillips, Director of the Air Force Office of Energy Assurance.

    Energy Systems Group (ESG) will lead the team and focus on designing power plants for Defense Department installations. In addition to turbine manufacturer GE Vernova, the awarded team includes Sage Geosystems and the Energy and Geoscience Institute (EGI) at the University of Utah. EGI has spent more than 30 years researching geothermal resource exploration.

    Sage Geosystems will offer its pressure geothermal technology typically utilizing two wells in an injection and production pattern. GE Vernova, the power spinoff of General Electric, will contribute expertise on research, power conversion and storage, grid solutions including microgrid technologies.

    GE Vernova has produced a video, accessible only to government customers on the Tradewind Solutions Marketplace, highlighting its promising geothermal conversion technology which could provide 5 MW of energy resiliency around the clock at close to 50 Defense sites.

    University of Utah’s EGI and Sage would provide geothermal assessment expertise and Sage would handle drilling activities. GE Vernova would deliver power conversion, microgrid design and control as well as hydrogen generation and storage.

    Energy Systems Group would lead development of the project collaboration.

    “We are excited to play a role in helping unleash America's energy dominance with secure, plentiful, geothermal energy,” said Steve Smith, Energy Systems Group’s vice president of Federal Business. “We are honored to lead this innovative team that brings a wide range of technology and experience to help the DoD safeguard mission-critical operations.”

    The U.S. Air Force has contracted for numerous microgrid and on-site power projects over the past 10 years. One of those deals last year included a plan by BWR Innovations to provide integration capabilities for a future hydrogen fuel cell microgrid at historic Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam in Oahu, Hawaii.

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    In 2023, The Air Force Research Laboratory awarded a $4.8 million contract to Concurrent Technologies Corp. to develop direct-current microgrid technologies at Kirtland AFB in New Mexico.

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    About the Author

    Rod Walton, Managing Editor | Managing Editor

    For Microgrid Knowledge editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

    I’ve spent the last 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. I was an energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World before moving to business-to-business media at PennWell Publishing, which later became Clarion Events, where I covered the electric power industry. I joined Endeavor Business Media in November 2021 to help launch EnergyTech, one of the company’s newest media brands. I joined Microgrid Knowledge in July 2023. 

    I earned my Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. My career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World, all in Oklahoma . I have been married to Laura for the past 33-plus years and we have four children and one adorable granddaughter. We want the energy transition to make their lives better in the future. 

    Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech are focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

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    Miriam Rodriguez
    Dignitaries cut the ribbon for the new $10.9 million water resiliency microgrid project Feb. 26 at White Sands Missile Range. (Source: Miriam Rodriguez)
    Photo by Amy Phillips
    The Fort Hunter Liggett Emergency Operations Center (EOC) during the recent power outage. It is staffed with key garrison and tenant staff for information gathering and dissemination and coordinating efforts to mitigate and resolve issues. The garrison commander and command team provide guidance and makes decisions to mitigate or resolve issues. (Photo by Amy Phillips)
    Courtesy Photo by Miriam Rodriguez
    The nanogrid team: (Left to right) Branden Kurpenski, Production Manager, Sesame Solar; Gail Vaucher, Project Leader, Army Research Laboratory; Carol J. Bailey, SR Project Manager and Engineer, ERDC-CERL; Trish Cutler, Wildlife Biologist, WSMR Garrison Environmental Division; Nikmil Raj Nune, Engineering Manager, Sesame Solar and Benito F. Perez, Research Engineer, ERDC CERL (Courtesy Photo by Miriam Rodriguez)
    Schneider Electric
    Source: Schneider Electric
    U.S. Army photo by Augusta Vargas
    Brig. Gen. Christopher W. Cook, deputy commanding general of the 63rd Readiness Division; the Honorable Rachel Jacobson, assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and environment; and Col. Stephen Trotter, Fort Hunter Liggett Garrison Commander - cut the ceremonial ribbon to mark the completion of a $21.8 million microgrid project. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army photo by Augusta Vargas)

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