Who Is Really Funding Next-Gen Geothermal in 2026? Next-generation geothermal has moved beyond laboratory research into a capital-intensive commercialization phase. In 2026, the most important financing is no longer coming from one investor category: venture capital funds are financing drilling, subsurface modelling and hardware; strategic energy companies are providing equipment, project access and market credibility; banks are beginning to lend against contracted projects; and governments are absorbing exploration and first-of-a-kind technology risk. The strongest financing activity is concentrated in the United States and Canada, but Europe is becoming increasingly important through Germany-based deployment, European Union grants, UK innovation support, and strategic participation from European energy companies. The central investment question is changing from “Can this technology work?” to “Can the developer deliver repeatable, financeable projects at commercial cost?” The 2026 fun...
Breakthrough in Taiwan’s Deep Geothermal Energy: Academia Sinica and CPC Corporation Drill Nearly 4,000 Meters in Yilan and Find High-Potential Reservoir Published: December 10, 2025 By: Robert Buluma In a historic milestone for Taiwan’s renewable energy journey, Academia Sinica (Central Research Academy) and Taiwan’s state-owned CPC Corporation have successfully completed the island’s first-ever “deep geothermal exploratory well” in Yuanshan Township, Yilan County. The well reached a depth of nearly 4,000 meters, recorded a bottom-hole temperature close to 150 °C, and confirmed the existence of an upwelling heat source beneath the northern Yilan Plain. Researchers are now calling it a “high-potential geothermal reservoir” that could become a cornerstone of Taiwan’s green energy transition. From Anxiety to Excitement: The Temperature Surprise Dr. Ji-Chen Lee (李建成), principal investigator of the “Taiwan Geothermal Research and Technology Development Project” and researcher a...