Baker Hughes and TPAO Partner to Industrialize Enhanced Geothermal Systems in Türkiye

Baker Hughes and TPAO: Turning Türkiye’s Deep Heat Into Always-On Power

Baker Hughes and Türkiye’s national oil company, TPAO, have signed an agreement to explore enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) across Türkiye—a partnership that could extend the country’s geothermal industry beyond its naturally occurring reservoirs and toward a scalable, dispatchable source of low-carbon electricity. The deal, announced during COP31 in Antalya, positions geothermal not merely as a niche renewable but as a potential pillar of Türkiye’s energy security.

A partnership with strategic intent

The agreement brings together two organizations with complementary strengths. Baker Hughes contributes energy technology spanning subsurface evaluation, drilling, completions, power generation and digital systems; TPAO contributes decades of Turkish subsurface experience, drilling capability and access to national geological data.

TPAO—Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı—is Türkiye’s national oil company and has conducted oil and gas exploration and production for more than 70 years. It operates onshore and offshore and is active in 10 countries across three continents, giving it substantial experience in the drilling, reservoir assessment and project-execution disciplines that EGS development requires.

Baker Hughes, meanwhile, is seeking to translate capabilities built for oil and gas into next-generation geothermal. Its role in the partnership is not simply to supply equipment: the company says it will support de-risking, well-location and well-design evaluation, pilot drilling and, if those stages succeed, commercial-scale EGS development.

The agreement does not disclose financial terms, project locations, capacity targets or a construction timetable. That matters: it is best understood as a structured exploration and development framework rather than a commitment to build a particular power plant.

What the agreement covers

The partnership sets out a phased route from national screening to potential commercial deployment.

Nationwide EGS assessment. Baker Hughes and TPAO will evaluate EGS potential using data held by TPAO and Türkiye’s General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration (MTA).

Asset de-risking. The partners will assess candidate well locations and designs to determine technical and economic viability.

Pilot drilling. Selected locations could advance to pilot wells, allowing the partners to test reservoir creation, circulation and production performance under real subsurface conditions.

Commercial-scale development. Successful pilots could lead to full-scale EGS projects capable of supplying power to Türkiye’s grid.

This sequence is deliberately conservative. EGS is technically demanding, and the largest uncertainties—rock temperature, stress conditions, fracture connectivity, water loss, induced seismicity and drilling cost—cannot be resolved from desktop analysis alone. Pilot wells are therefore the decisive test of whether a promising geological concept can become a bankable power project.

Why EGS matters

Conventional geothermal plants depend on naturally occurring hot water or steam reservoirs. That constraint has made geothermal highly valuable where such resources exist, but geographically limited.

EGS changes the equation. Instead of relying on a pre-existing reservoir, developers inject water into hot, dry rock deep underground, creating or enhancing fracture networks that allow fluid to circulate and absorb heat. The heated fluid is then brought to the surface to generate steam and electricity.

In practical terms, EGS is an attempt to manufacture a geothermal reservoir where nature did not provide one in a readily usable form. If successful, it could allow geothermal development in locations that lack conventional hydrothermal resources but possess sufficiently hot rock at accessible depths.

That has three important implications for Türkiye:

Resource expansion: EGS could broaden the geographic footprint of geothermal development beyond today’s conventional fields.

Baseload capability: Geothermal can operate around the clock, unlike solar and wind, whose output varies with weather and time of day.

Energy security: Domestic geothermal generation reduces exposure to imported fuels and price volatility while supporting electrification and industrial decarbonization.

Türkiye’s geothermal position

Türkiye enters this partnership from a position of strength. The country is Europe’s largest geothermal power producer and ranks fourth globally, with installed geothermal capacity of approximately 1.8 GW.

Its existing production relies on conventional geothermal resources. Türkiye’s geology—shaped by active tectonics, volcanic history and high heat flow—has made it one of the world’s most favorable locations for geothermal energy.

But the existing 1.8 GW also illustrates the central limitation of conventional development: the industry has grown where accessible hot-water reservoirs exist. EGS is intended to unlock a much larger resource base by targeting hot rock that may not contain naturally circulating fluids or may not have sufficient permeability for commercial production.

Türkiye’s Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has framed the country’s ambition in broader terms: geothermal is expected to serve electricity generation, district heating, greenhouse cultivation and thermal tourism. Under Türkiye’s National Energy 2040 Plan, the government aims for approximately 6 GW of combined installed geothermal and biomass capacity. 

The industrial logic of the deal

The most consequential aspect of the Baker Hughes–TPAO agreement may be its emphasis on “industrializing” next-generation geothermal. The phrase signals that both companies view EGS as a repeatable industrial process, not a series of bespoke demonstrations.

For Baker Hughes, the partnership fits a broader strategic shift. The company has extensive experience in drilling, reservoir characterization, completions, artificial lift, rotating equipment, digital monitoring and power generation—capabilities that map closely onto EGS requirements. Applying them to geothermal allows Baker Hughes to serve the energy transition while leveraging competencies developed over decades in hydrocarbons.

For TPAO, the agreement offers a way to put its national subsurface database and drilling expertise to work in a lower-carbon business. TPAO’s oil and gas experience does not make EGS easy, but it provides a meaningful starting point: the company understands deep drilling, geological interpretation, well integrity, reservoir management and the operational realities of large energy projects.

The collaboration also gives Türkiye a potential domestic capability pathway. Rather than importing a fully packaged EGS solution, the country could build local expertise in geothermal drilling, reservoir engineering, seismic monitoring, power-plant integration and project operations.

The technology challenge

EGS is promising, but it is not automatically commercial. The technology must overcome several persistent challenges.

Creating a productive reservoir

EGS requires creating sufficient fracture surface area and connectivity in hot rock so that water can circulate efficiently. If the fractures are too limited, flow rates will be inadequate; if they are poorly controlled, water may short-circuit between injection and production wells without absorbing enough heat.

Managing water losses

Injected water may be lost into the formation rather than returned to the surface. Water loss raises operating cost, creates a need for makeup water and can complicate project economics, especially in water-stressed regions.

Controlling induced seismicity

Hydraulic stimulation can cause small seismic events. Most are imperceptible, but operators must carefully manage injection pressures, monitor seismicity in real time and adjust operations to reduce risk. Public acceptance depends heavily on transparent monitoring and credible safety protocols.

Reducing drilling cost

Deep wells in hard, hot rock are expensive. Drilling speed, bit life, casing design, thermal cycling and well-control requirements all affect project economics. This is an area where Baker Hughes’ drilling and completions expertise could be particularly valuable.

Delivering reliable power

EGS must produce stable temperatures and flow rates over decades. A plant that performs well during a pilot phase must still deliver predictable output under long-term reservoir conditions.

These challenges explain why the agreement’s staged approach is sensible. A nationwide screening exercise can identify high-potential areas, but pilot drilling will determine whether those areas can support durable, commercial projects.

COP31 symbolism and substance

The agreement was signed during COP31, the United Nations’ flagship climate conference, in Antalya. That setting gives the announcement political visibility, but its practical importance lies in the work plan rather than the ceremony.

Baker Hughes CEO Lorenzo Simonelli framed the deal as a move “from ambition to action,” arguing that EGS can expand where geothermal energy can be developed and help deliver reliable, lower-carbon power.

The timing is also strategically useful for Türkiye. The country is seeking to reconcile two objectives that can be in tension: reducing emissions and strengthening domestic energy security. Geothermal—particularly if EGS becomes commercially viable—offers a rare combination of low-carbon generation and around-the-clock reliability.

The announcement also fits into a wider set of COP31 energy announcements. Reports from the conference described a proposed global geothermal target for 2050: increasing global geothermal energy supply twelvefold and lifting installed geothermal power capacity from about 16 GW to 193 GW. Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and Georgia also strengthened clean-energy cooperation aimed at delivering electricity toward European markets through the Azerbaijan–Georgia–Türkiye–Bulgaria route.

What Baker Hughes gains

For Baker Hughes, the TPAO agreement is a commercially meaningful entry point into one of the world’s strongest geothermal markets.

Türkiye already has an established geothermal sector, experienced developers, operating plants, regulatory familiarity and a demonstrated demand base. That makes it a more credible market for EGS industrialization than a market starting from zero. The country’s installed capacity of roughly 1.8 GW provides both an existing supply chain and a policy environment that understands geothermal power.

Baker Hughes can also use the partnership to demonstrate an integrated offering: subsurface characterization, drilling and completions, reservoir stimulation support, power-generation equipment, digital monitoring and lifecycle services. If Türkiye becomes an EGS hub, Baker Hughes would be well positioned to supply not only one project but a repeatable development model.

The company’s stated capabilities—subsurface evaluation, drilling, completions, power generation and digital—align with the full EGS value chain. That breadth matters because EGS projects fail or succeed across multiple disciplines: a good reservoir concept can be undermined by poor drilling execution, inadequate monitoring, unsuitable turbine selection or weak operations.

What TPAO gains

For TPAO, the partnership is a route to diversify beyond oil and gas while retaining its core technical identity.

The company’s experience in exploration and production is directly relevant to EGS. Both industries require deep drilling, geological modeling, well design, reservoir management, production optimization and capital-intensive field development. TPAO can apply those capabilities to a resource that is domestic, long-lived and compatible with Türkiye’s decarbonization agenda.

The partnership also gives TPAO access to Baker Hughes’ technology base and international project experience. That could accelerate learning, reduce execution risk and help Türkiye develop EGS know-how domestically rather than relying entirely on foreign developers.

There is a political dimension as well. TPAO is a state-owned enterprise, and the agreement aligns with national goals on emissions reduction, energy security and expanded use of domestic resources.

The economic question

The central question is whether EGS can become economically competitive at scale.

Geothermal has attractive operating characteristics: high capacity factors, low fuel costs and long asset lives. But upfront capital costs are high, especially for deep drilling, reservoir stimulation, surface facilities and grid connection. EGS adds uncertainty because reservoir performance is created rather than naturally proven.

The Baker Hughes–TPAO framework addresses that uncertainty in the right order:

Use existing national data to narrow the search area.

Evaluate well locations and designs before committing major capital.

Drill pilots to validate reservoir performance.

Move to commercial development only after technical viability is demonstrated.

That approach reduces the risk of premature, large-scale commitments. It also creates a potential pathway for cost reduction: each successful pilot can improve drilling practices, stimulation design, reservoir modeling and plant integration for subsequent projects.

Financial details were not disclosed, so investors and policymakers should avoid treating the announcement as evidence of imminent capacity additions. The meaningful near-term deliverable is data, candidate-site selection and pilot results—not installed megawatts.

What success would require

For the partnership to produce a genuine EGS industry, several conditions must align.

High-quality geological data: TPAO and MTA data must be sufficient to identify zones with adequate temperature, depth, rock properties and drilling access.

Strong pilot execution: Early wells must demonstrate sustainable circulation, acceptable water losses and commercially relevant heat extraction.

Cost discipline: Drilling and completion costs must fall enough for EGS projects to compete with other firm and variable renewable resources.

Risk management: Operators will need robust seismic monitoring, water-management plans and transparent engagement with local communities.

Policy support: Clear permitting, grid access, offtake arrangements and risk-sharing mechanisms can determine whether pilots progress to commercial projects.

Local supply chain: Turkish drilling contractors, fabricators, service companies and power-equipment suppliers would need to participate for the sector to scale efficiently.

A potential model for other markets

If Baker Hughes and TPAO can demonstrate a repeatable EGS development model in Türkiye, the implications could extend well beyond the country.

Türkiye has favorable geology, an established geothermal sector and a state energy company with drilling expertise. Those conditions make it a plausible testing ground for EGS industrialization. Success would not guarantee success elsewhere, but it would provide a valuable proof point for countries with hot rock but limited conventional geothermal resources.

The broader opportunity is substantial. Geothermal is one of the few renewable technologies that can provide firm, weather-independent power. If EGS becomes cheaper and more predictable, it could complement solar and wind by supplying electricity when those sources are unavailable.

That is why the Baker Hughes–TPAO agreement deserves attention beyond its immediate news value. It is not simply a corporate cooperation agreement; it is an attempt to turn a promising technology into an industrial system.

The near-term outlook

In the short term, expect the partners to focus on data integration, geological screening, site selection and well-design work. Pilot drilling would represent the first major capital-intensive milestone and the first real test of the partnership’s technical thesis.

Commercial-scale development, if it occurs, would likely follow only after pilots demonstrate reservoir productivity, manageable water losses, acceptable seismic behavior and economic operating costs.

For Türkiye, the potential prize is significant: a way to expand geothermal power beyond conventional reservoirs while reinforcing energy security with domestic, always-on generation. For Baker Hughes, it is an opportunity to establish a leadership position in next-generation geothermal. For TPAO, it is a chance to convert oil-and-gas expertise into a lower-carbon domestic growth business.

The agreement is therefore best read as a deliberate first step in a longer industrial campaign. Its success will be measured not by the signing ceremony in Antalya, but by whether pilot wells can prove that Türkiye’s deep heat can be developed reliably, safely and at a cost that supports large-scale investment.

Source: Baker Hughes