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Polis kicks off state’s ‘Heat Beneath Our Feet’ geothermal push with project in Vail
Holy Cross Energy President and CEO Bryan Hannegan, left, with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, center, and Vail Mayor Travis Coggin discuss the town’s new geothermal project, which received $250,000 from the state (David O. Williams photo).
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis visited Vail on Thursday morning to show state support for a town geothermal project intended to supplant natural gas with natural heat as the primary energy source for Vail’s street snowmelt system.
Vail Mayor Travis Coggin, Holy Cross Energy President and CEO Bryan Hannegan and Polis went over the details of the $250,000 state grant to help fund Vail’s new geothermal system to replace carbon-intensive natural gas with heat from the earth’s crust to power one of the largest snowmelt systems in the world.
Town of Vail environmental sustainability director Kristen Bertuglia and clean energy specialist Cameron Millard provided further details of exactly how the new geothermal system will work to heat the streets at the base of Vail Mountain.
Millard provided this Town of Vail fact sheet on the project, which already has drilled 500 feet into Ford Park at the east end of town and looks to include another bore hole near Dobson Ice Arena and the Vail Public Library as those facilities are reconfigured:
- The Town of Vail has climate action goals for a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 from a 2014 baseline and an 80% reduction by 2050. The town has identified geothermal energy as a potential solution to replace natural gas heating and snowmelt systems. The inspiration for this project comes from Colorado Mesa University and their Ambient Temperature Loop (ATL) utilizing networked geothermal technology. An initial scoping study by The GreyEdge Group consultant team confirmed the viability of the technology for decarbonizing the town’s natural gas-fired heating systems and snowmelt operations. Other potential benefits can be conferred, such as assisting the Eagle River Water and Sanitation District (ERWSD) water treatment plant with lowering water discharge temperatures into Gore Creek.
- Specifically, this project seeks to capitalize on a planned revitalization of the town’s civic area, including the library and ice-arena. In 2022, the Vail Public Library underwent an Investment Grade Audit, which identified ground source heat pumps as the best way to meet the heating and cooling needs of the building while supporting the town’s climate action goals. The Dobson Ice Arena is being renovated, and planning is underway. The local water treatment plant also needs to reduce outgoing water temperatures and could benefit from the removal of heat into the ambient temperature loop. Combined with the ice-arena chillers, there is a significant source of heat available building heating/cooling and snow melting operations in the area.
- The project would involve the Dobson ice arena, the Vail Public Library, and the ERWSD wastewater treatment plant, area snowmelt systems, and provisions for future additions to the system such as area hotels, which can provide waste heat from chillers that operate year-round.
- The project team includes geothermal experts The GreyEdge Group, as well as engineering, public works, and environmental team members from the Town of Vail, along with stakeholder representatives from ERWSD and HCE. The GreyEdge Group is under contract with the Town to help develop the concept further by identifying sources and sinks of thermal energy and providing a detailed ambient temperature loop sink/source evaluation study. They have also analyzed a test borehole drilled in the fall of 2023 to help characterize the hydrogeological resource. This funding proposal seeks to further the conceptual heating district and usher it into a detailed engineering design phase to fully test the viability and rough order-of- magnitude cost of the system and develop Construction Documents.
Polis, who is trying to play catchup on geothermal heating and power systems with other western states, launched the “Heat Beneath Our Feet” initiative during his chairmanship of the Western Governors Association to boost geothermal projects.
Polis, who owns a home in Vail, said the high profile of the global ski destination should be ideal for spreading the word on the benefits of tapping into geothermal heat and power. Thus far, Colorado gets no electricity from geothermal, while Hawaii leads the nation at 25%. Here’s a press release on today’s announcement from Polis’s office:
Today, Governor Polis visited the Vail, a Polis administration geothermal grant recipient, to discuss how they will utilize geothermal energy to reduce emissions and provide clean, low-cost energy. Earlier this year, Vail was awarded funding through the administration’s Geothermal Energy Grant Program, which invested $7.7 million in 35 opportunities across the state to expand geothermal energy, helping Colorado reach 100% renewable energy by 2040 and save Coloradans money on energy bills.
“Colorado is using the heat beneath our feet to save people money and access clean, lower-cost energy. Geothermal energy is helping us improve air quality and reliability. The plans moving forward in Vail are a great example of how we can harness geothermal energy and help power our future,” said Governor Polis.
The Town of Vail received $250,000 to perform an evaluation study for how to best utilize geothermal energy and plan the revitalization of the town’s civic area. The project looks to initially incorporate the library, wastewater treatment plant, ice arena, and area snowmelt systems. The project design will include provisions for future additions such as area hotels as the town aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and 80% by 2050, with geothermal energy identified as a key solution to replace natural gas and snowmelt systems.
Colorado has provided $7.7 million in grant funding through the Geothermal Energy Grant Program for 35 initiatives across the state to advance the use of zero-emissions geothermal energy in Colorado. HB22-1381, a bipartisan law signed by Governor Polis and sponsored by Representatives Titone and McKean, and Senators Winter and Woodward, allocated a total of $12 million for the initiative. In addition to the state support, awardees are investing more than $100 million into the awarded initiatives.
Governor Polis has visited several awarded project sites across the state to highlight the important work awardees are doing to take advantage of Colorado’s abundant “heat beneath our feet,” which was the focus of Governor Polis’ 2022 Chair Initiative for the Western Governors’ Association.
David O. Williams
