General Electric Co. said Thursday it has received a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a sensor for geothermal power generation
The award to GE’s (NYSE: GE) Billerica, Mass.-based Sensing & Inspecting Technologies unit calls for the company to refine and repackage an existing sensor to provide temperature, pressure, strain and vibration information from inside geothermal wells.
Three other GE projects received funding to advance the development of various components of geothermal power systems, which use the difference in temperature above and below ground to generate electricity and provide heating and cooling power.
Last month, the DOE awarded $338 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding to 123 projects in 39 states for the development of new geothermal fields and technology development.