Geothermal Collegiate Competition

The Geothermal Collegiate Competition (GCC) has announced the launch of the Fall 2023 cycle! Read the rules and start gathering your team for the competition that invites students to develop real-world geothermal solutions while competing for cash prizes and gaining resume experience in the renewable energy industry.

With two tracks this year—technical and policy—there is something for nearly any undergraduate or graduate student. First-place teams in each track will receive $10,000 and second-place teams can earn $6,000. 

Registration will open on August 1, 2023! Check out the rules to learn more and follow the competition on HeroX for updates.

Questions? 

• Register for one of the GCC office hours: 
  • May 25 (2 p.m. ET), June 27 (2 p.m. ET), July 26 (1 p.m. ET) 
• Or email  with questions.

Tomorrow, Feb. 10 at 1 p.m. EST, join us to hear about the newly revised GeoRePORT Socioeconomic Assessment Tool (SEAT).

Aaron Levine, Esq., from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, will discuss the tool and how it has been updated for the assessment of direct use geothermal resources.

Register now for tomorrow's webinar!

Curious about conducting socioeconomic assessments for geothermal?

Join us on Feb. 10 at 1 p.m. EST to hear Aaron Levine, Esq., discuss the newly revised GeoRePORT Socioeconomic Assessment Tool (SEAT) from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The tool has been updated to allow for the assessment of direct use geothermal resources.

Register now for the Feb. 10 webinar!

Wondering where to start to receive regulatory and permitting approval for your geothermal project?

Join us on Feb. 1 at 1 p.m. EST to hear from Aaron Levine, Esq., from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. This webinar will outline the environmental regulations that commonly apply to geothermal projects, as well as various steps in the permitting process.

Register now for the Feb. 1 webinar!

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently developed and released a new geothermal heat pump technology module as part of the REopt™ web tool. The new module allows users to simulate the impacts that converting conventional heating and cooling systems to geothermal heat pumps have on on-site consumption of fuels and electricity, utility costs, and CO2 emissions. Facility owners, technology vendors, policy makers, and others can now model multiple variables to see how they interact to help determine the best opportunities for a site. 

Check out the updated tool! 

The REopt web tool enables users to optimize system sizes and battery dispatch strategies to minimize energy costs by entering their facility data, including utility rates, billing history, and local weather. REopt can also be used to estimate how long a system can sustain critical loads during a grid outage, informing resiliency strategies.