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Seems that nobody actually read the article. The DOE isn't looking to get steam to turn a turbine and make power. They are pumping 150F hot water out of an old well and using it to directly heat two schools in the winter. In the summer they use that same hot water to run an absorption heat pump for cooling. The goal is 1 MW of power per year from the test project.
Another option is to use the water that comes up with the oil and use it to power rankine cycle engines to produce modest amounts of power for the oil field before injecting it back into the ground.
Xist - having just driven cross-country on I-70; There are plenty of old wells next to one another. It was interesting crossing Kansas to see new energy production (large wind farms) sited next to oil energy production (old oil fields with pumpjacks barely pumping or sitting idle)
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