Blog
DOE Names NLR Home for Geothermal Center of Excellence
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes · Last updated:
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office (HGEO) announced on Sept. 3, 2026 that it is establishing a Geothermal Center of Excellence to be hosted on the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) campus. The center will be led by NLR and enabled by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) to pool national-lab capabilities, industry input and research into a single hub at NLR’s South Table Mountain Campus in Golden, Colorado, as first reported by the National Laboratory of the Rockies. The launch brings DOE, NETL, NLR and an industry advisory board together to target technical barriers to geothermal deployment.
“We are excited to partner with NETL and collaborate with our national laboratory colleagues to integrate and focus DOE’s geothermal capabilities and expertise to accelerate the deployment of geothermal energy in the U.S.”
Jud Virden, NLR laboratory director
Key takeaways
- Announcement date: DOE's HGEO announced the Geothermal Center of Excellence on Sept. 3, 2026.
- Host and site: The Center will be hosted by the National Laboratory of the Rockies at its South Table Mountain Campus in Golden, Colorado.
- Enabling lab: The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) will enable the new center.
- Lab support: Argonne, Brookhaven, Idaho, Los Alamos, Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest and Sandia national laboratories are listed to support the center.
Table of contents
Why NLR and NETL are hosting a national geothermal hub
DOE’s Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office framed the new Geothermal Center of Excellence as a way to focus laboratory-scale science and engineering on the barriers that have constrained larger geothermal deployment. NLR will lead operations on its South Table Mountain Campus while NETL provides cross-lab coordination and programmatic enablement, concentrating expertise that previously lived across multiple laboratories and programs.
Jud Virden, director of the National Laboratory of the Rockies, said the partnership will integrate DOE capabilities to accelerate deployment; the NLR announcement quoted him describing the collaboration as a step to focus national-lab resources on geothermal priorities. The launch event on Sept. 3, 2026 gathered DOE and lab leadership to align workstreams and establish industry-facing priorities.
How the center will connect national labs, industry and research
The center is designed to convene national laboratories and industry through an industry advisory board that will advise on research priorities and help translate lab outputs into field-ready solutions. The NLR announcement names an advisory board as the mechanism for industry input and lists backing from laboratories including Argonne, Brookhaven, Idaho, Los Alamos, Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest and Sandia.
That structure aims to shorten the path from lab research to commercial projects by aligning lab capabilities—geoscience, drilling technology, subsurface modeling and materials R&D—with industry needs. Amanda Kolker, NLR geothermal and geosciences laboratory program manager, said convening stakeholders and decision-makers is central to advancing the goals for geothermal expansion in the United States.
What the announcement leaves open and immediate operational details
The NLR page also carries a 'Last Updated April 28, 2026' note, but the DOE and NLR statements do not specify a budget, staffing timeline or the date for the center’s first published research agenda. Those missing details will determine how quickly the center can move from coordination to funded projects and field demonstrations, and they are not provided in the Sept. 3, 2026 announcement.
Locating the center on the South Table Mountain Campus in Golden, Colorado places it close to western U.S. geothermal opportunity, but the announcement provides no schedule for site build-out, named industry advisory board members or initial projects. Until DOE and NLR publish funding allocations and a workplan, the center’s practical impact will depend on follow-on decisions that have not yet been disclosed.
Near-term cases for and against rapid impact
The case for
- Concentrating national-lab capabilities under a single host should reduce duplication and accelerate lab-to-industry handoffs if DOE coordinates funding and priorities across NETL and NLR.
- Proximity to western geothermal resources and the creation of an industry advisory board create practical pathways for testing and scaling technologies identified by laboratories.
The case against
- The announcement includes no funding levels or project schedule, so the center may remain a coordination forum unless DOE follows with substantive budget commitments.
- Managing priorities across many national laboratories and aligning them with industry timelines could slow decision-making and dilute measurable near-term outputs.
What to be careful about
- No funding amount or implementation schedule is specified in the announcement, leaving program scale and pace uncertain.
- Coordination across many national laboratories risks competing priorities that could delay a unified research agenda.
- The center’s impact depends on industry engagement with the advisory board; limited participation would reduce industry-facing outcomes.
The bottom line
The Geothermal Center of Excellence consolidates DOE and national‑lab capacity in one hosted hub at NLR’s South Table Mountain Campus in Golden, Colorado, with NETL charged to enable cross‑lab work and an industry advisory board to steer priorities. The Sept. 3, 2026 announcement names the labs involved and the governance model but leaves funding, staffing and a public workplan unspecified. The center’s potential to move geothermal from niche demonstrations to reliable, around‑the‑clock generation depends on those follow‑on budget and program decisions and on how quickly the advisory board and laboratories convert coordination into funded field programs.
What to watch
- Watch for the center’s first published research agenda; no date has been set.
- Watch for announcements naming industry advisory board members; no date has been set.
Frequently asked questions
Who is leading the Geothermal Center of Excellence?
The center is led by the National Laboratory of the Rockies and enabled by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL); the launch was announced by DOE’s Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office on Sept. 3, 2026.
Which national laboratories will support the new center?
The announcement lists support from Argonne, Brookhaven, Idaho, Los Alamos, Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest and Sandia national laboratories.
Does the announcement include funding or a timeline?
No—DOE and NLR did not specify budget figures or a schedule; the NLR page includes a 'Last Updated April 28, 2026' line but provides no implementation dates.
Related reading