SAN FRANCISCO, California – April 6, 2021 – US-based GreenFire Energy Inc. and Japanese Mitsui Oil Exploration Co., Ltd. (MOECO) today announced that they have entered an agreement for GreenFire Energy to design and assist MOECO in performing a demonstration and testing of one of GreenFire Energy’s closed-loop geothermal solutions at a geothermal resource in Japan. The goals are to demonstrate substantial heat recovery from an exploratory well which has already been drilled but cannot be produced by conventional geothermal technology and to assess the technoeconomic feasibility of developing the resource with new technology to create a large-scale geothermal power production facility. MOECO is an oil and gas exploration, development, and production company that is part of the Mitsui Group. The company has been focused on geothermal energy as an important potential source of renewable energy in Japan and other areas.
GreenFire Energy is uniquely suited to assess the potential of geothermal resources by applying its experience with similar geothermal resources, advanced well modeling capability, and new technologies to determine the technical and financial viability of large geothermal projects before major costs are incurred. The demonstration and testing project will assess the ability of GreenFire Energy’s approach to capture heat from the resource for power production. If the project is successful, the testing is expected to proceed to develop a large scale test project with innovative geothermal technology that could include GreenFire Energy’s approach.
“Our focus on geothermal energy is an important part of our business and leverages our experience in the oil and gas exploration realm. MOECO and the Mitsui Group are exploring a number of green renewable energy opportunities, including geothermal. GreenFire Energy’s technology can potentially solve some of the challenges of conventional geothermal development, and will be a great way to move MOECO forward in geothermal energy production,” said HAMAMOTO Hirotaka, chief executive officer, MOECO.
"GreenFire Energy is delighted to work with MOECO on this project. Not only is the resource that we are testing excellent for use with our technology, but we are very impressed with MOECO’s vision in rapidly moving forward to investigate new geothermal technology that is specially designed to match the geothermal resource,” said Joseph Scherer, chief executive officer, GreenFire Energy Inc.
About GreenFire Energy Inc.
GreenFire Energy Inc. develops and deploys innovative, closed-loop geothermal technologies to unlock the world’s largest source of continuous renewable energy. GreenFire GreenLoop™ technology exploits vast, typically inaccessible geothermal resources and enables cost competitive, continuous, and flexible power generation with unrivaled environmental advantages. Its GreenLoop technology, demonstrated at the Coso geothermal field in Coso, California, is versatile and has a number of additional high-value applications, including use for mineral extraction, hydrogen production, and energy storage. GreenFire Energy offers Field Scale and Well Retrofit solutions for a wide spectrum of energy providers including those in the diversified renewable energy, geothermal, and oil and gas industries.
GreenFire Energy’s technology has been developed with grants from the U.S. Department of Energy and the California Energy Commission. The technology is the result of years of research conducted in concert with U.S. National Laboratories, major universities, and eminent experts in multiple scientific disciplines. GreenFire Energy’s corporate mailing address is in San Francisco, California, USA. For more information visit www.greenfireenergy.com.
About Mitsui Oil Exploration Co., Ltd.
MOECO has been continually developing the exploration, development and production of energy resources globally and building the development of gas projects in offshore Thailand. MOECO is proud to have successfully overcome numerous challenges in its long history to continue to be able today to make a meaningful contribution toward the supply of energy for the betterment of society through our business activities.
MOECO now embraces the challenge that comes with the world entering into a new era where society’s demands for energy are rapidly changing. MOECO renews our commitment towards delivering energy resources that will strive to meet the demands of a changing society through our global expansion including the continued development of geothermal business as one of the core group companies of Mitsui & Co.’s energy business value chain. For more information visit www.moeco.com/en.
Media Contact:
Hollis Chin
VP Marketing
GreenFire Energy Inc.
+1.888.899.7363
Inquiries about Mitsui Oil Exploration Co., Ltd.
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Mitsui Oil Exploration Co., Ltd.
+81.80.5881.9801
Source: GreenFire Energy Inc.