Geothermal Expansion

Boise, ID

The City of Boise has the largest geothermal system in the United States and in 2011, 2014, and 2016, Titan Technologies helped expand that system. Totally nearly 13,000 linear feet of fiberglass reinforced epoxy pipe. The expansion allowed geothermal to be extended to more commercial buildings downtown. Beneath the streets of Boise are over 20 miles of pipeline that heat over 6 million square feet. All over downtown, you’ll find these plaques in buildings; including JUMP, City Hall, Treasure Valley YMCA, Boise State and more.

Boise started utilizing geothermal heat in 1983 and is the largest of its kind in the United States and the sixth largest in the world. Nearly one third of downtown Boise is heated by geothermal energy, which includes 92 buildings. This only costs the city around $1,000 per month to heat them.

According to Idaho Press,

Contrary to what some might think, the water in the geothermal system is not heated by volcanic activity beneath the city.

Instead, the water is heated by the decay of a large mass of rock formed from cooled magma beneath the mountains of central Idaho called a batholith.

Snowmelt and rainwater seep into the rocks from the mountains and come in contact with the rock, which is slowly giving off radioactive isotopes as it breaks down. The particles’ splitting off the atoms in the rock results in a high temperature beneath the surface. There has been no indications of decreasing water temperature over the last 125 years and the water is not expected to stop being heated to the current temperature for centuries.

These projects alone garnered Titan nearly $3.2 million in capital.