The Secretary of Energy (hereafter in this chapter referred to as the “Secretary”) is authorized to make a loan to any person, from funds appropriated (pursuant to this subchapter) to the Geothermal Resources Development Fund established under section 1144
1
See References in Text note below.
of this title, to assist such person in undertaking and carrying out a project which (1) is designed to explore for or determine the economic viability of a geothermal reservoir and (2) consists of surface exploration and the drilling of one or more exploratory wells.