AMHERST — A geothermal energy project to heat and cool all buildings on the Amherst College campus is underway, with some of the upcoming work of boring holes down 850 feet to be visible for passers-by on College Street throughout 2025.

Along with an energy center addition being attached to the central energy plant — considered the heart of the initiative to use electricity provided by renewable sources — much of the work will be occurring in East Lot, immediately east of the railroad tracks and where several buildings associated with the physical plant and the various shops are located, along with student parking.

On Wednesday, the Planning Board received an update from college representatives in the Planning, Design and Construction, with Daren Gray, capital project manager, explaining how the numerous boring holes will be spread throughout the parking lot. These will be complete by 2026.

These will support the ground-sourced heating system, powered by electric heat pumps, allowing energy to be drawn from the earth and heated to the required temperatures using electricity. These will be used for installing a closed-loop geothermal well system connected to the electric heat pumps.

He added that the exciting initiative puts Amherst College, though its Climate Action Plan, as a leader in decarbonization efforts, along with Smith College, which has a similar project underway.

Amherst Planning Director Christine Brestrup said the college has to submit plans they are going to undertake for review by the Planning Department.

“I think it’s a really great project,” Brestrup said.

The college first started doing the build-out in April 2023.

“Transitioning the College’s heating and cooling system is both transformative and a crucial part of decarbonizing our campus energy system that will benefit the College for decades to come,” President Michael A. Elliott said at the time.

Capital Project Manager Chris Tait said the climate initiative is a multiyear phased project that is expected to be completed by 2030. “We’re bringing new low temperature hot water and chilled water infrastructure to basically every building on the core campus,” Tait said.

The $80 million investment will convert the power plant to run entirely using geothermal energy. Currently, the college’s plant burns fossil fuels, either natural gas or oil, which creates steam that goes through steam lines to all campus buildings.

In its place, the college will use renewable electricity, acquired from a Maine solar field as part of its New England College Renewable Partnership with Smith, Hampshire, Williams and Bowdoin colleges, to power the electric heat pumps, which heat low-temperature hot water.

“We aim to be circulating 135-degree hot water instead of 250-degree steam, so there’s a lot of efficiencies you pick up in heat you don’t lose and don’t have to make,” Tait said.

Most buildings are being retrofitted, though for some, such as Valentine Hall, no upgrades will happen, meaning it will be temporarily mothballed as a dining commons and dormitory.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.