The U.S. Energy Department has bought a geothermal plant near Casper, Wyoming for an undisclosed amount. The plant was designed to produce 250 kilowatts of electricity and has been operating for over a year, providing electricity to operate oil wells. Ormat Technologies built the plant to prove the feasibility of using geothermal power to generate electricity.

“We’re taken a huge step by proving the technology works,” said Paul Thomsen, Ormat’s director for policy and business development. “The bigger question is, ‘Are there other sites like this throughout the country that we could implement this type of project?’ We are still doing the market analysis on that.”

The federal government plans to continue testing for another two years and collect more data related to long-term durability of the plant.