Atlas Copco to develop high-speed geothermal drilling technology
Stockholm, Sweden, October 12, 2011: Atlas Copco Secoroc LLC and Sandia National Laboratories have been awarded MUSD 3.4 (around MSEK 20) by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for a joint research project. The aim is to develop technology that would significantly increase the speed of drilling deep geothermal wells and reduce the cost of investment in this renewable energy source.Geothermal energy has great potential as an environmentally friendly source of energy in many parts of the world, but developments are constrained by the high costs related to drilling deep wells in hard rock and