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Showing posts from June 21, 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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Borealis and Landsvirkjun 12 MW Power Agreement: Iceland’s Renewable Energy Boost for AI Data Centers

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
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...
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Green Therma Geothermal: Fifth-Generation Closed-Loop Technology for Europe’s Clean Heat Future

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
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...
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Birch Geothermal: The Startup Reinventing Clean Baseload Power

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
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 ....
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Armstrong International Launches Geothermal Industrial Heat Pump Production Site in Herstal, Belgium

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
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...
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Berlin's €1 Billion Geothermal Financing Deal: BEW Secures 20-Year KfW Syndicated Loan for District Heating Transition

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
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...
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"Next-Generation Geothermal Energy: Why EGS Financing and Drilling Costs Still Block Clean Firm Power"

By Robert Buluma Alphaxioms
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...
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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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