Global Geothermal Power: Policies, Funding, Wells, Strengths, Opportunities and Barriers Geothermal is moving into a broader investment cycle. In 2026, the story is no longer limited to volcanic power plants in a few classic markets; it now includes enhanced geothermal systems, closed-loop designs, district heating, superhot rock, lithium from brines and industrial heat. Across the United States, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Iceland, France and Italy, the sector is being shaped by a simple question: who is de-risking the first wells, and who is ready to finance the next ones? United States: the next-generation testbed The United States has the broadest geothermal innovation ecosystem in this group, with a mature conventional base in the West and a fast-growing next-generation pipeline. The main policy signal in 2026 is the Department of Energy’s US$171.5 million funding opportunity for next-generation geothermal field-scale tests, exploration...
Iceland Drilling and Pertamina Drilling Strengthen Geothermal Collaboration: A New Platform for Super Hot Rock Development
The global geothermal industry is entering a period in which drilling capability, resource knowledge and international collaboration are becoming increasingly important. As countries look for reliable, low-carbon sources of electricity and heat, geothermal energy is moving beyond conventional developments toward more technically challenging resources, including deeper reservoirs and Super Hot Rock (SHR).
A new collaboration between Iceland Drilling Company Ltd and Pertamina Drilling Services Indonesia (PDSI) highlights this transition.
In August 2026, Iceland Drilling and Pertamina Drilling Services Indonesia officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at strengthening cooperation in geothermal drilling services. The agreement brings together two organisations from countries with exceptionally strong geothermal credentials: Iceland, with decades of experience in geothermal drilling and development, and Indonesia, home to one of the world's largest geothermal resource bases.
The partnership is designed to combine capabilities, expertise and experience while creating new business opportunities in Indonesia and international markets. More importantly, the collaboration could provide a platform for advancing geothermal well construction and exploring next-generation geothermal technologies, including the potential development of Super Hot Rock resources.
A Partnership Built Around Geothermal Drilling
Drilling is one of the most important and challenging components of geothermal development.
A geothermal project can have an excellent resource on paper, but without the ability to safely and economically drill wells into the reservoir, that resource cannot be converted into electricity or useful heat.
Geothermal wells can encounter high temperatures, difficult formations, lost circulation, corrosive fluids and complex geological conditions. As developers move deeper and target hotter resources, these challenges become even more significant.
This is why collaboration between experienced drilling organisations can have strategic importance.
The MoU between Iceland Drilling and PDSI is intended to strengthen cooperation in geothermal drilling services and create opportunities for both companies to combine their respective capabilities. The objective extends beyond a simple commercial relationship. It creates a framework for knowledge sharing, technological development and potentially wider international cooperation.
For Indonesia, the partnership offers an opportunity to draw on Icelandic drilling experience. For Iceland, it provides a pathway into one of the world's most important geothermal markets while potentially creating opportunities for international expansion.
The result could be a mutually beneficial platform connecting two geothermal leaders.
Indonesia is one of the world's most important geothermal countries.
Located along the Pacific Ring of Fire, the country has extensive volcanic and tectonic activity that provides exceptional geothermal potential. Yet developing this resource at scale requires significant investment, technical expertise, drilling capacity and long-term project execution.
The country's geothermal sector therefore represents an enormous opportunity for drilling companies with specialised capabilities.
For PDSI, cooperation with an experienced international drilling company can contribute to the continued development of drilling expertise and technology. For Iceland Drilling, Indonesia represents a major market in which decades of Icelandic geothermal experience can potentially be applied to a much larger geothermal development landscape.
The partnership therefore comes at a strategically important time.
Indonesia is looking to expand renewable energy while maintaining energy security and supporting economic growth. Geothermal energy can play a particularly important role because, unlike variable renewable resources such as solar and wind, geothermal power can provide firm electricity around the clock when resources and projects are properly developed.
The availability of skilled drilling contractors and advanced well-construction capabilities will be essential if Indonesia is to unlock more of its geothermal potential.
Iceland has developed a unique position in the global geothermal industry.
The country's abundant geothermal resources have supported decades of experience in exploration, drilling, reservoir development and geothermal power generation. This experience has helped Iceland become an important source of knowledge for countries seeking to develop geothermal resources in other parts of the world.
Iceland Drilling brings this background into the new partnership.
The company has decades of experience associated with geothermal drilling, giving it exposure to the technical realities of drilling in high-temperature environments.
That experience becomes particularly relevant as geothermal development moves toward more challenging resources.
Conventional geothermal wells may already involve demanding temperatures and pressures. Super Hot Rock development pushes these requirements much further.
The ability to transfer knowledge from Icelandic geothermal operations to Indonesia could therefore have value beyond individual drilling projects. It could contribute to broader improvements in drilling practices, well construction, technical training, engineering approaches and technology deployment.
This is one of the most important potential benefits of the collaboration.
One of the most interesting elements of the announcement is the reference to Super Hot Rock resources.
Super Hot Rock, commonly abbreviated as SHR, refers to geothermal resources at extremely high temperatures. These resources could potentially provide enormous quantities of energy if the technological and economic challenges associated with accessing and managing them can be overcome.
The concept represents a potential next step in geothermal development.
Traditional geothermal development generally focuses on naturally occurring reservoirs where sufficient heat, permeability and fluid are available for commercial production. Super Hot Rock approaches seek to access much hotter environments, potentially at greater depths and under significantly more demanding conditions.
This creates a fundamentally different drilling challenge.
At extreme temperatures, conventional drilling equipment, casing, cement, electronics and downhole tools can face severe limitations. High-temperature fluids and challenging rock conditions can also complicate well construction and reservoir management.
Consequently, Super Hot Rock development is not simply a matter of drilling deeper.
It requires improvements across the entire geothermal value chain.
Drilling systems must become more capable. Materials must withstand extreme environments. Logging and measurement technologies must operate at higher temperatures. Well-control techniques must evolve. Reservoir engineering must account for different physical conditions. And project economics must demonstrate that the enormous energy potential can be converted into commercially viable electricity or heat.
This is where partnerships such as the Iceland Drilling-PDSI collaboration could become strategically significant.
The geothermal industry has often focused heavily on resource potential and power-generation technology. However, as geothermal ambitions expand, drilling is increasingly emerging as one of the critical constraints.
A geothermal well is essentially the gateway between an underground resource and an energy project.
Without the well, there is no production.
The drilling phase can also represent a significant share of project risk. Exploration wells can fail to encounter sufficient permeability, temperature or fluid flow. Difficult formations can increase drilling time and costs. Lost circulation can create operational challenges. High-temperature conditions can damage equipment and complicate downhole operations.
These challenges become even more pronounced when developers pursue deeper and hotter resources.
That means the companies capable of improving geothermal drilling economics could have an outsized influence on the future growth of the industry.
The Iceland Drilling and PDSI agreement should therefore be viewed not merely as another corporate MoU, but as part of a broader effort to strengthen the infrastructure required for geothermal expansion.
Combining Two Geothermal Markets
Perhaps the most compelling aspect of the partnership is the combination of two different geothermal ecosystems.
Iceland represents a relatively mature geothermal market where geothermal energy has been integrated into electricity generation and heating systems for decades.
Indonesia represents a vast growth market with significant untapped geothermal potential.
Combining these environments creates opportunities for two-way learning.
Icelandic companies can gain greater exposure to the scale, geology and commercial realities of the Indonesian geothermal sector. Indonesian companies can benefit from international experience developed through decades of geothermal operations in Iceland.
This type of cooperation can accelerate knowledge transfer.
Rather than each market developing every capability independently, companies can share experience and build partnerships around specific technical challenges.
The result can be a more connected global geothermal industry.
From Indonesia to International Markets
The MoU also points toward opportunities beyond Indonesia.
According to the announcement, Iceland Drilling and PDSI aim to expand opportunities in Indonesia and international markets.
This could be significant because geothermal development is becoming increasingly international.
Countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and Latin America are exploring ways to expand geothermal generation. Some have conventional resources. Others are investigating enhanced geothermal systems, deeper resources and advanced drilling technologies.
A partnership combining Indonesian and Icelandic experience could potentially participate in projects outside both countries.
Such international cooperation could become increasingly valuable as geothermal developers search for experienced drilling contractors capable of operating under different geological and commercial conditions.
The opportunity is not limited to drilling rigs.
International geothermal projects require engineering knowledge, well planning, geological interpretation, equipment, project management and operational experience. Partnerships can create networks that allow this expertise to move between markets.
A Stronger Focus on Knowledge Sharing
One of the most important outcomes of the partnership may ultimately be knowledge sharing.
Geothermal drilling is highly specialised. Lessons learned from one well can influence the design and execution of future wells.
Knowledge relating to drilling performance, well construction, equipment selection, formation behaviour and high-temperature operations can reduce learning curves and potentially improve project execution.
This becomes even more important for emerging technologies.
Super Hot Rock development remains technically challenging, and the industry needs continued experimentation and learning. No single company or country is likely to solve every challenge independently.
International partnerships therefore provide a mechanism for combining expertise.
The Iceland-PDSI relationship could contribute to this process by connecting Indonesian geothermal experience with Icelandic drilling knowledge.
Energy Security and the Energy Transition
The collaboration also fits into the wider global energy transition.
Countries are increasingly looking for energy systems that combine lower emissions with reliability and energy security.
Geothermal has an important role to play because its resources are located underground and can potentially provide continuous energy production.
Unlike weather-dependent renewable resources, geothermal plants can operate independently of whether the sun is shining or the wind is blowing, provided the resource and plant are properly managed.
This makes geothermal particularly attractive for countries seeking to diversify their electricity systems.
Indonesia has substantial geothermal potential, while Iceland has demonstrated how geothermal resources can become an important component of a national energy system.
Cooperation between companies from these two countries therefore has relevance beyond the companies themselves.
It supports the broader objective of developing more geothermal resources and strengthening the technical capabilities needed to bring those resources into operation.
Could Super Hot Rock Become the Next Frontier?
The reference to Super Hot Rock may ultimately prove to be one of the most important aspects of the partnership.
The geothermal industry is increasingly asking a fundamental question: how far can geothermal technology expand the amount of usable heat beneath our feet?
If engineers can reliably access extremely hot rock and create productive geothermal reservoirs, the potential resource base could be dramatically larger than conventional geothermal development alone.
But this remains a major engineering challenge.
Super Hot Rock development requires advances in drilling, materials, well completion, reservoir stimulation, monitoring and power conversion.
The companies and countries that develop these capabilities could gain an important position in the next generation of geothermal energy.
For Iceland and Indonesia, the opportunity is particularly interesting because both countries already have strong geothermal identities.
Their cooperation could therefore connect conventional geothermal experience with emerging high-temperature technologies.
What This Means for the Global Geothermal Industry
The Iceland Drilling-PDSI partnership sends a broader message to the geothermal sector.
The next phase of geothermal growth will not be driven by power plants alone.
It will depend heavily on the ability to drill wells faster, safer and more economically.
It will depend on better geological understanding.
It will require advanced high-temperature equipment.
It will require stronger supply chains.
And increasingly, it will require international partnerships.
The agreement demonstrates how geothermal leaders can work together to address these challenges.
Indonesia contributes one of the world's most important geothermal resource environments and a growing geothermal industry. Iceland contributes decades of experience from one of the world's most mature geothermal markets.
Together, the partnership creates the possibility of combining scale with experience.
A Strategic Step for Geothermal Drilling
The August 2026 MoU between Iceland Drilling Company Ltd and Pertamina Drilling Services Indonesia represents an important development in geothermal drilling collaboration.
Its immediate objective is to strengthen cooperation, support sustainable business growth, expand opportunities in Indonesia and international markets, and contribute to geothermal well construction.
But its longer-term significance could be much greater.
The partnership creates a platform for innovation, knowledge sharing and the potential development of next-generation geothermal technologies.
The explicit reference to Super Hot Rock resources makes the collaboration particularly noteworthy.
As the geothermal industry moves toward hotter, deeper and more technically challenging resources, drilling companies will sit at the centre of the transformation.
The future of geothermal may ultimately depend not only on how much heat exists beneath the Earth's surface, but on whether humanity can economically and safely reach it.
Iceland and Indonesia have already demonstrated that geothermal energy can become a major component of a modern energy system.
Now, through cooperation between Iceland Drilling and PDSI, two geothermal leaders are looking toward the next frontier.
If the partnership successfully combines Iceland's decades of geothermal drilling experience with Indonesia's extraordinary geothermal resource potential, it could help unlock new opportunities far beyond conventional geothermal development.
And if Super Hot Rock becomes commercially viable, the knowledge and capabilities developed through partnerships like this could become part of the foundation for an entirely new era of geothermal energy.
The geothermal race is moving deeper. And the companies that can drill the future may help define it.
Source : LinkedIn
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