In a typical geothermal project, water pumped up for conversion into a heat or energy source is then pumped back down for re-heating. Company president Alison Thompson said the joint development agreement with Shell will “de-risk” the project to determine the potential for more investment. “The drilling to be done … with Shell’s funding assistance is to intersect the M’Deek Reservoir with production sized wells. If the well tests look good, the wells could be used to produce geothermal energy,” she said. “The wells drilled previously were not intended to be used for production.”