Borealis and Landsvirkjun Sign a 12 MW Power Purchasing Agreement: What It Means for Iceland’s Data Center Future By: Robert Buluma Iceland has become one of the world’s most interesting destinations for data center development, and the latest agreement between Borealis Data Center and Landsvirkjun adds another important chapter to that story. The two companies have signed a long-term deal for an additional 12 MW of firm power to support Borealis’ growing operations in Blönduós, reflecting both the rapid rise of artificial intelligence infrastructure and Iceland’s position as a renewable-energy hub. This is not just a routine energy contract. It is a signal that Iceland’s digital economy is moving into a new phase, where clean electricity, cool climate, and advanced computing are beginning to converge into a strategic national advantage. The agreement comes at a time when global demand for AI-ready infrastructure is rising quickly. Data centers are no longer just storage facilities; th...

Green Therma and the Future of Geothermal Scale in Europe By: Robert Buluma Geothermal energy has long been one of the most intriguing renewable resources in the global clean energy mix. It is steady, local, and available around the clock, unlike solar and wind, which depend on weather and daylight. Yet despite these advantages, geothermal has often remained a niche part of the energy landscape. The reason is not a lack of potential, but a combination of technical complexity, high upfront drilling costs, site-specific geology, and the challenge of scaling projects in a repeatable way. That is why companies promising a new generation of geothermal systems tend to attract attention. Green Therma is one of those companies. Its message is bold: geothermal technology for scale, potentially up to 25,000 wells in Europe. That is a major claim, and it deserves careful attention. If such a model works, it could change how Europe thinks about district heating, industrial heat, and energy securi...

Birch Geothermal and the Quiet Reinvention of Clean Power By: Robert Buluma For decades, geothermal energy has been the clean energy world’s most underappreciated asset: always on, deeply reliable, and technically proven, yet still too often treated as a niche technology. Birch Geothermal wants to change that. The company is part of a new generation of geothermal developers betting that better subsurface engineering, smarter data, and oilfield-style execution can turn geothermal from a geological curiosity into a mainstream source of firm clean power  That ambition matters because the electricity system is changing fast. Grids now need more than low-carbon generation; they need power that can run at any hour, follow demand, and support a world increasingly shaped by electrification, data centers, and industrial load growth . Birch’s thesis is simple but bold: if geothermal is engineered better, it can become one of the cleanest and most dependable tools in the energy transition ....

How Geothermal Power Is Rewiring Industrial Heat in Herstal By: Robert Buluma In Herstal, Belgium, a quiet but consequential shift is taking shape. Armstrong International , a company long known for thermal utility solutions, is building a new production site for high-temperature industrial heat pumps that will itself be powered by an innovative closed-loop geothermal system. Named CircularSteam1, the project combines manufacturing, geothermal energy, and circular thermal thinking on a former mining site. When it opens in 2027, the plant aims to produce roughly 100 industrial heat pumps per year, each delivering up to 1 MW and able to raise temperatures to 120°C — high enough to serve many industrial processes previously dependent on fossil-fuel boilers. Why geothermal matters for industrial heat Geothermal energy is often associated with large-scale electricity generation or the warm springs that draw tourists. But its quiet power as a stable, local supply of low-grade heat makes it a...

Berlin’s Heating Transition Secures a Decade‑Defining Loan By: Robert Buluma In late April 2026, a quiet but decisive milestone was reached in Berlin’s energy landscape. Behind the scenes of the city’s vast district heating network—the largest in Western Europe—a consortium of nine banks finalised a syndicated loan of roughly one billion euros. The transaction, structured with a twenty‑year maturity and backed by a creative blend of public and private financing, effectively unlocks the financial foundation for Berlin’s most ambitious decarbonisation projects to date. This is not simply another infrastructure loan. It is a testament to how a city‑owned utility, a supportive state government, and a broad coalition of financial institutions can align around a common goal: transforming a fossil‑fuel‑dependent heating system into a climate‑neutral powerhouse by 2045. The deal also signals a new benchmark for energy infrastructure financing in Germany, potentially reshaping how similar proje...

Next-generation geothermal can overcome its economic hurdles, but the path depends on reducing drilling risk, standardizing project design, securing patient capital, and using policy or offtake structures to bridge the early costs. By:  Robert Buluma Next-generation geothermal energy is often described as a clean firm power resource with the potential to scale beyond the geography of traditional hydrothermal fields . It includes technologies such as enhanced geothermal systems, advanced closed-loop systems, and other approaches that try to extract heat from hot rock where conventional geothermal reservoirs do not exist or are not economically recoverable . The core promise is compelling: instead of waiting for rare natural reservoirs, operators can create or access heat resources across far more locations, expanding geothermal from a niche resource into a potentially major pillar of power systems .   The economic challenge is equally clear. Next-generation geothermal stil...