ALPHAXIOMS Geothermal News & Energy Research

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...

Europe’s Geothermal Revolution Is Coming: EGEC Demands a 250 GW Target by 2040 – Here’s Why 2026 Will Be Make-or-Break By: Robert Buluma Published: December 9, 2025   On 5 December 2025, the European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) dropped a bombshell policy paper with a crystal-clear message to Brussels: Europe is sleeping on the biggest indigenous, baseload, 24/7 renewable energy source under its feet , and it’s time to wake up. Titled ,The European Geothermal Strategy and Action Plan , Making Europe competitive, secure and affordable, the document is the strongest industry call yet for the European Commission to publish a dedicated European Geothermal Strategy and Action Plan in Q1 2026. And the ambition is massive: 250 GW of installed geothermal capacity by 2040 a six-fold increase from today’s ~44 GW (mostly district heating and a handful of power plants). Why Now? Because Europe Can No Longer Afford to Wait Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Europe has been laser-focu...

A 400-Year-Old Tudor Mansion Just Chose Next-Gen Geothermal  And It Changes Everything Posted by  Robert Buluma | December 11, 2025 Deep in the rolling countryside of Suffolk, England, stands Kentwell Hall ,a moated, red-brick Tudor masterpiece built in 1563, complete with octagonal guard towers, a 16th-century long gallery, and gardens that have hosted queens. For centuries it has been heated (if you can call it that) by a wheezing, century-old oil boiler that gulps thousands of litres of heating oil every winter yet still leaves the 400-year-old rooms chilly and the fuel bills astronomical. That is about to change , dramatically, invisibly, and permanently. This week it was announced that Kentwell Hall has selected CeraPhi Energy , a British deep-geothermal pioneer, to carry out a world-first feasibility study and, if successful, install a closed-loop deep geothermal heating system that will make the entire estate net-zero with almost zero visible impact on the Grade I list...

Chevron CEO Sees Growing Potential in Biofuels and Geothermal Energy Posted by  Robert Buluma | December 11, 2025 The energy world is changing fast, and Chevron, one of the oldest and largest oil companies on the planet, is not sitting on the sidelines. In a recent wide-ranging interview with The Wall Street Journal, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth made it clear: the company sees major, long-term growth in two areas that have nothing to do with crude oil,biofuels and geothermal energy. For a company built on drilling for hydrocarbons, this pivot toward heat from the Earth’s core and fuels grown from plants is nothing short of remarkable. From Black Gold to Green Heat: Why Chevron Is Betting Big on Geothermal Geothermal energy has long been the quiet, reliable cousin in the renewable family,always there, rarely flashy, but suddenly very attractive. Unlike solar panels that go dark at night or wind turbines that stop when the air is still, geothermal plants deliver steady, 24/7 baseload p...

Expression of Interest: Saint Lucia Launches Early Market Engagement for Integrated Drilling Services By:  Robert Buluma The Government of Saint Lucia (GoSL) has officially opened an Expression of Interest (EOI) process as part of its major push into geothermal exploration under the Renewable Energy Sector Development Project (RESDP). Backed by US$34.6 million in financing from the World Bank and several global climate-focused Trust Funds, this initiative marks a pivotal step toward unlocking the island’s geothermal energy potential. The RESDP aims to determine the viability of Saint Lucia’s geothermal resource for electricity generation while strengthening the enabling environment required to scale up private-sector clean energy investments. A key component of this effort involves the exploration drilling of three slim-hole wells in the communities of Saltibus, Belle Plaine, and Fond St. Jacques. Of the total project financing, US$12.3 million is provided by the International Dev...

Fervo Energy's $462 Million Geothermal Gold Rush: Google Joins the Heat By:  Robert Buluma December 10, 2025 In the fast-evolving world of clean energy, where solar panels dominate skylines and wind farms stretch across horizons, a deeper and quieter revolution is rising from beneath our feet. Fervo Energy, the Houston-based innovator in enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), has just announced an astonishing $462 million Series E funding round. This isn’t just another climate-tech investment,it's a tectonic moment for geothermal energy. The round was led by   B Capital , joined by major players including Google , Tesla co-founder JB Straubel, and nuclear industry leader Kris Singh. With continued backing from Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Devon Energy, Fervo’s total funding now exceeds $1.5 billion. Why the sudden rush? As AI-driven data centers consume unprecedented amounts of electricity and political winds shift around renewable priorities, geothermal’s promise of 2...

Revolutionizing Urban Heating: UGS GmbH's Pioneering Geothermal Project in Potsdam By: Robert Buluma In the heart of Germany’s energy transition, a quiet but powerful revolution is taking place in Potsdam. UGS GmbH, a German subsidiary of the French energy storage specialist Geostock, has begun a landmark geothermal project that could redefine how entire cities stay warm in winter ,without burning a single drop of oil or cubic meter of gas. The project, awarded by the local utility Energie und Wasser Potsdam GmbH (EWP), focuses on the former site of the HKW Süd combined heat and power plant in southern Potsdam. The goal is ambitious: replace the aging gas-fired plant with deep geothermal energy and other renewables, eventually supplying tens of thousands of households with completely CO₂-free district heating. At the center of this transformation stands a piece of machinery that looks like something from the future: UGS’s fully modernized, all-electric drilling rig “Rig 110”. After...

Szczecin Takes a Bold Step Toward Energy Self-Sufficiency With New 2-Kilometer Geothermal Well By:  Robert Buluma Szczecin has officially launched one of its most ambitious energy initiatives yet,signing a contract for the construction of a nearly 2-kilometer geothermal exploratory well, a move city leaders are calling “a step toward true energy self-sufficiency.” The new well, designed to determine the geothermal potential beneath the city, could unlock a reliable, clean, and locally available heat source that strengthens energy security while reducing environmental impact. A Strategic Investment in Clean, Local Energy  According to the City Hall, the exploratory-reconnaissance well will help verify whether the geological structures beneath Szczecin contain high-yield geothermal reservoirs suitable for long-term heat production. “We hope this becomes another source of energy that allows us to diversify supply, ensure continuity of services, and maintain financial stability wh...

Exciting PhD Opportunity at Utrecht University : Unravelling Clogging Mechanisms in Porous and Fractured Rocks (Deadline: 14 December 2025) Published on  December 2025 By: Robert Buluma Are you a curious MSc graduate in Earth Sciences, Geology, Physics, or a related field who wants to work on cutting-edge research that directly supports the energy transition? Then this fully funded PhD position at Utrecht University (The Netherlands) might be exactly what you’re looking for! The Project – Why it matters Many of tomorrow’s energy solutions  geothermal energy, CO₂ storage, underground hydrogen storage , depend on injecting and extracting large volumes of fluids into the subsurface. A major risk that can kill these projects is clogging: pores and fractures gradually get blocked by particles, precipitates, or biomass, reducing permeability and sometimes stopping flow altogether. Although individual clogging mechanisms are reasonably well studied, we still lack a good understanding...

Breakthrough Beneath the Beach: Amsterdam Region Hits Geothermal Paydirt at Strandeiland By: Robert Buluma The Netherlands just took a giant leap toward fossil-free heating. On the artificial island of Strandeiland (part of Amsterdam’s fast-growing IJburg district), the SCAN exploration well has officially confirmed what the geothermal community has been hoping for: a thick, hot, and , most importantly permeable reservoir in the Slochteren Formation. Key numbers that matter:   Reservoir thickness: 152 meters   Bottom-hole temperature: 66 °C   Permeability: confirmed via successful production and injection tests   That’s not screaming-hot by Icelandic standards, but for direct-use district heating in one of Europe’s densest urban areas, 66 °C is more than enough to supply thousands of homes with clean, baseload heat – forever. Why This Well Changes Everything for the Netherlands The Dutch government launched the SCAN program (Seismic Campaign Nethe...

A Historic Milestone for Błonie: The Symbolic Launch of Geothermal Well Błonie GT-1 By: Robert Buluma December 9, 2025 Błonie, Poland On December 3, 2025, the town of Błonie (just 30 km west of Warsaw) celebrated a moment many of us have been waiting for: the official, symbolic start of drilling the geothermal well Błonie GT-1. The drilling rig has actually been working non-stop for several weeks already. By the day of the ceremony, the borehole had reached a depth of 1,169 metres, and just 24 hours later it passed 1,214 metres. Yet the town wanted to mark this occasion properly , with speeches, guests of honour, and hundreds of curious residents gathered around the towering rig. The ribbon was cut together by Mayor Zenon Reszka and Marek Balcer, President of Geotermia Mazowiecka S.A. Both stressed that this project could become a turning point for the energy future of our 13,000-strong community. Among the guests were some of the most important figures in Polish geology and green ener...