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Showing posts from April 26, 2026

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Mijnwater Starts Terhoevenderweg Drilling for New 634-Meter Heat Source in Heerlen

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
Mijnwater starts drilling for new heat source on Terhoevenderweg in Heerlen New source expands Parkstad’s district heating and cooling network Mijnwater has started drilling work for a new heat source at Terhoevenderweg in Heerlen, marking another important step in the expansion of its sustainable heating and cooling network in Parkstad. After a period of preparation, work began this week and is expected to continue for three to four weeks. Because the operation must be completed safely and efficiently, the drilling is taking place 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The project is part of Mijnwater’s broader effort to strengthen a low-carbon energy system for the region. The new source will tap warm groundwater in a former mine passage deep underground and feed that energy into the company’s network. For Heerlen and the surrounding area, this means further development of a district energy system that draws value from the region’s mining past while supporting a more sustainable energy ...
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LCOE Benchmarking: Eavor Technologies vs. Fervo Energy

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
LCOE Compared: Eavor Technologies vs.  Fervo Energy   Two Bets on Next-Generation Geothermal An Alphaxioms Geothermal Insights Analysis | May 2026 Image:  Eavor and Fervo Drilling Rigs well poised in their respective well pads , drill baby , baby what a time to be a live Introduction: Why the Cost Question Matters Now The global geothermal sector is in the middle of a pivotal moment. After decades of stagnation largely confined to volcanic hotspots, two fundamentally different technological approaches are racing to prove that geothermal energy can be deployed broadly, cheaply, and at scale. Eavor Technologies , the Calgary-based advanced geothermal systems (AGS) company, and Fervo Energy , the Houston-based enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) pioneer, represent the sharpest divergence in next-generation geothermal strategy today. Each company is backed by hundreds of millions of dollars in private capital, each has reached key commercial milestones, and each is advancing ...
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Indonesia Geothermal Drilling Success Redefines Remote Energy Development

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
Indonesia’s Remote Frontier Breakthrough: How Geothermal Drilling Success Is Redefining Energy Possibilities Deep in the rugged, untamed terrains of Indonesia, where volcanic forces shape both landscape and destiny, a quiet but powerful milestone has just been achieved. Far from the noise of global headlines, a geothermal drilling campaign in East Indonesia has delivered something far greater than two wells drilled ahead of schedule—it has delivered proof. Proof that the future of energy is not theoretical. It is operational, scalable, and already unfolding. At the center of this achievement is Star Energy Geothermal, working in one of the most logistically challenging and geologically complex environments on Earth. Mobilizing drilling rigs into remote terrain is no small feat. It requires not only engineering precision, but also a fusion of human resilience, digital intelligence, and operational discipline. This campaign demonstrated exactly that—and more. The Harsh Reality of Remo...
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NASEO Geothermal Power Accelerator Driving Multi-State Energy Transformation

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
Geothermal Power Accelerator : America’s Quiet Race to Unlock the Earth’s Energy Core By:  Robert Buluma The global energy transition is often framed through the familiar lenses of solar panels stretching across deserts and wind turbines rising above coastlines. Yet beneath the surface—literally—lies one of the most powerful, reliable, and underutilized energy resources on Earth: geothermal power. Now, a bold initiative in the United States is attempting to rewrite the trajectory of this sector. The Geothermal Power Accelerator, a collaboration among 15 states, signals a decisive shift from cautious exploration to aggressive deployment. This is not just another policy framework. It is a coordinated, multi-state effort designed to eliminate long-standing barriers, attract private capital, and transform geothermal from a niche energy source into a cornerstone of grid reliability. A Coalition Built for Speed, Not Talk At its core, the Geothermal Power Accelerator represents somet...
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Ormat raises concerns over Kenya Power payment delays

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
When Power Stalls: Payment Delays Threaten Kenya’s Geothermal Momentum By: Robert Buluma Kenya’s geothermal story has long been told as one of Africa’s most compelling energy success narratives—a nation that dared to dig deep into the Earth and emerged with a reliable, renewable backbone for its electricity grid. From the steaming plains of Olkaria to the ambitious expansions across the Rift Valley, geothermal has positioned Kenya as a continental leader in clean baseload power. But beneath this success lies a growing tension—one that could quietly undermine the very foundation of this progress. Recent signals from , one of Kenya’s key independent power producers, have cast a spotlight on a familiar yet dangerous challenge: delayed payments from . What may appear as a routine financial hiccup is, in reality, a warning sign with far-reaching implications for investment, energy security, and the future trajectory of geothermal development in Kenya. The Backbone of Kenya’s Energy System T...
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KenGen’s Sh32bn project stalled amid donor funding dispute

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
Donor Funding Row Freezes KenGen’s Sh32 Billion Geothermal Ambition A Billion-Shilling Dream Stalls in Kenya’s Energy Heartland By:  Robert Buluma In the shadow of the steaming vents and rugged volcanic terrain of Hell’s Gate National Park, one of Kenya’s most ambitious clean energy expansions has hit an unexpected wall. The multi-billion-shilling geothermal project led by the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) — valued at approximately Sh32 billion — has been frozen following a donor funding dispute. What was once a symbol of Kenya’s global leadership in geothermal energy now finds itself entangled in financial uncertainty, bureaucratic friction, and the fragile nature of international development financing. The pause is more than a delay in infrastructure delivery. It is a signal of how modern energy transitions, even in globally admired renewable hubs like Kenya, are still deeply dependent on external capital flows, policy alignment, and institutional trust betwe...
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Quaise Energy Raises $180 Million Series B to Advance Superhot Geothermal Power Plant

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
Quaise Energy Raises $180 Million as Superhot Geothermal Moves Closer to Commercial Reality Quaise Energy has taken a major step toward commercializing superhot geothermal power with the final close of its Series B financing, bringing in $180 million in equity capital and lifting total funding to $280 million. The round includes a $35 million investment from Nabors Industries and a strategic framework agreement that strengthens the companies’ collaboration around drilling operations, technology integration, and commercial development. The announcement matters because it is not just another clean-energy funding headline. It is a signal that superhot geothermal is starting to attract the kind of capital, industrial partnerships, and technical confidence that are usually needed before a frontier energy technology can move from laboratory promise to real-world deployment. A Big Capital Milestone The final close of the Series B gives Quaise a stronger financial base to advance Project Obs...
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DMT Munich 3D Seismic Survey Unlocks Deep Geothermal Potential

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
DMT Launches Major 3D Seismic Survey in Greater Munich to Unlock Geothermal Potential DMT has begun one of the most ambitious geothermal exploration efforts in Europe: a large-scale 3D seismic survey across the Greater Munich area. The campaign is designed to create a detailed image of the deep subsurface and provide the geological foundation for future geothermal development in and around Munich. This matters because geothermal energy is only as strong as the quality of the subsurface data behind it. In a project like this, better information can reduce drilling risk, improve project planning, and help utilities and municipalities make smarter long-term investment decisions. Munich is already one of Germany’s most important geothermal regions, with an active district heating network and multiple operating boreholes. The new campaign aims to build on that base by identifying new opportunities and supporting the next stage of deep geothermal expansion. Why the Munich project matters The...
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İpeks Jeotermal to Drill 10 Geothermal Wells for Greenhouse Heating in Afyonkarahisar

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
İpeks Jeotermal to Drill 10 New Geothermal Wells for Greenhouse Heating in Afyonkarahisar İpeks Jeotermal Enerji Tarım Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. plans to drill 10 new geothermal production wells to increase the heating capacity of its greenhouse facility in Afyonkarahisar, Türkiye. The company also plans to add three reinjection wells as part of an investment valued at approximately 94.5 million Turkish lira. The project will be developed in the İsmail, Çakır and Sadıkbey village areas of Afyonkarahisar’s central district, within the company’s existing geothermal licence area, identified as IR:122 and ER:3193230. The planned expansion is expected to improve the reliability of geothermal heat supplies for the company’s greenhouse operations while supporting the more efficient and sustainable use of the region’s geothermal resources. Geothermal energy is increasingly being used in greenhouse agriculture because it can provide a stable source of heat throughout the year. Unlike solar and win...
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The "Heat-as-a-Service" (HaaS) Business Model: Geothermal Without the CAPEX Nightmare

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
Heat-as-a-Service takes geothermal from a capital-intensive power project to a financeable, contract-based heat utility: instead of selling electrons, you sell stable, decarbonized heat under long-term contracts that match what industrial customers and investors actually want. Image: A thematic picture of a geothermal power plant By shifting risk and ownership away from end users and toward specialised developers and infrastructure capital, it can unlock geothermal in markets where electricity tariffs are low but demand for reliable, low-carbon process heat is strong. From kWh to “heat-as-a-service” Traditional geothermal projects earn revenue by selling electricity into a grid, often at wholesale prices that barely cover high up-front drilling and plant costs unless there is a feed-in tariff or premium.Many industrial users, however, do not need electricity; they need heat for processes like brewing, greenhouse climate control or pulp and paper production, and they currently buy that ...
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EGS Market Size and Investment Outlook

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) Market Size and Investment Outlook to 2034 Enhanced Geothermal Systems are at an inflection point. For years, EGS sat in the “promising but pre‑commercial” category of clean technologies, constrained by drilling cost, subsurface risk, and limited policy attention. That picture is now changing as next‑generation geothermal developers raise larger rounds, sign serious offtake agreements, and move projects from concept to execution.   At the same time, global demand for firm, low‑carbon power is rising faster than conventional geothermal can supply. Thermal plants are retiring, grids need 24/7 clean electricity, and policymakers are discovering that weather‑dependent renewables cannot carry the entire load alone. EGS is emerging as one of the few technologies capable of delivering baseload clean power using a resource available almost everywhere: deep, hot rock. Current EGS Market Size – Small but Strategic In absolute terms, the EGS market is s...
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How AI-Powered Digital Twins Are Transforming Geothermal Reservoir Management

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
Geothermal Reservoir Digital Twins: How AI Is Transforming Reservoir Management Image : Thematic image of a geothermal heat pump Artificial intelligence and digital twins are quietly rewriting the playbook for geothermal reservoir management. They turn scattered subsurface data into living, predictive models that help operators boost output, cut drilling risk, and extend the productive time. How Geothermal Digital Twins Are Making Reservoirs Smarter, Safer, and More Profitable For decades, geothermal development has been constrained by one brutal fact: you can’t see 3 km underground. You infer, you model, you hope—and sometimes you drill into a dry or underperforming reservoir. AI‑powered geothermal digital twins change that equation by continuously updating subsurface models with real‑time data, making the invisible reservoir behave like a transparent, responsive system. In practice, geothermal digital twins are dynamic software replicas of wells, reservoirs, and surface facilities th...
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Geothermal Salary Guide 2026 by Country: USA, Germany, UK, Canada, Netherlands and Global Pay Outlook

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
Geothermal Salary Guide 2026 by Country Geothermal careers in 2026 are being shaped by a stronger global push for firm, low-carbon energy, rising demand for skilled drilling and subsurface talent, and the expansion of heating, cooling, and power applications. The market is no longer just about traditional geothermal power plants ; it is also being pulled forward by data center demand , heat decarbonization , and next-generation geothermal technologies such as enhanced geothermal systems . Those trends are creating new salary pressure in countries with mature energy sectors and strong technical labor markets. The most attractive salary markets in this group are the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the Netherlands, but each country offers a different mix of base pay, taxes, benefits, and career growth. The right way to evaluate geothermal pay is to look at both nominal salary and real purchasing power, because a higher number on paper does not always mean better ta...
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Oil to Geothermal: How Drilling Crews Are Powering the Talent Pipeline

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
Geothermal’s workforce story is increasingly a story about people who used to drill for oil now drilling for heat instead.  Image : A Thematic picture of an oil and gas worker  The same crews and engineers who perfected unconventional shale, deepwater wells and complex subsurface projects are being redeployed into enhanced geothermal systems, closed loop concepts and district heating, and the speed of that transition will determine how fast the project pipeline can actually be built. Below is a revised article without hyphens or commas in the prose. I will still use periods and headings so it stays readable. Geothermal Talent And The Oil To Geothermal Workforce Transition The most important geothermal technology of the next decade might not be new hardware or software. It might be people. Thousands of oilfield workers geoscientists and engineers already know how to drill deep complex wells and keep them under control. As enhanced geothermal systems and advanced concepts move f...
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Utah FORGE Extended Circulation Boosts Enhanced Geothermal Research

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
Utah FORGE Begins Extended Circulation Utah FORGE has launched an extended circulation test at its Milford, Utah field site, marking a major step forward in the development of enhanced geothermal systems. The new phase is designed to examine how the reservoir behaves during continuous operation and to generate the long-term performance data needed to evaluate commercial viability. For a project focused on de-risking geothermal technology, this is one of the most important milestones yet. Introduction Utah FORGE, the world’s only full-scale field laboratory dedicated to testing and improving the technologies required for enhanced geothermal systems , has entered a new extended circulation phase at its site approximately 10 miles northeast of Milford, Utah. The test is expected to run for roughly four months, with the possibility of extending to 120 days depending on operational conditions. This stage matters because geothermal development is not only about finding heat underground; it i...
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Idle GDC Drilling Machines Put Sh15bn Investment Into Question

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
Idle GDC drilling machines put Sh15bn investment into question Image: A GDC Owned Geothermal Rig Kenya’s geothermal ambitions have long been presented as one of the country’s strongest energy success stories. Yet a fresh audit report has exposed a costly weakness inside the Geothermal Development Company , where drilling rigs worth Sh15.93 billion have raised hard questions about value for money, asset management, and the future pace of geothermal expansion. The issue is not simply that machines are sitting idle. It is that these machines were bought for a strategic purpose: to drill wells, unlock steam, and help Kenya expand one of its cleanest and most reliable sources of power. When such expensive equipment remains unused for years, the problem goes far beyond maintenance. It points to a breakdown in planning, operations, oversight, and financial discipline. For a country that relies heavily on geothermal energy to stabilise electricity supply, the implications are serious. Every id...
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