Tajogaite Energía and INVOLCAN Join Forces to Explore La Palma’s Geothermal Potential Tajogaite Energía S.L. has taken a significant step toward assessing the geothermal potential of La Palma by formalising an agreement with the Canary Islands Volcanological Institute (INVOLCAN). The agreement covers surface geothermal exploration and research across 19 mining grids awarded to the company by the Government of the Canary Islands, with a total value of €387,698.50. The initiative does not yet mean that a geothermal power plant will be built or that deep drilling will begin immediately. Instead, it represents an essential early phase: using advanced scientific methods to understand what lies beneath the island’s surface and identify the areas with the greatest potential for future geothermal development. A Strategic Agreement for Canary Islands Energy The collaboration between Tajogaite Energía S.L. and INVOLCAN forms part of the public tender process launched by the Canary Islands Govern...
Advanced Drilling Technologies in Geothermal Energy By: Robert Buluma Introduction Geothermal energy represents one of the most promising sources of clean, baseload renewable power. The Earth's subsurface heat is virtually inexhaustible—estimates suggest that at 5 km depth, the planet stores approximately 140 × 10⁶ EJ of heat, enough to meet global energy demands for about two millennia if only 1% were extracted. Yet despite this enormous potential, geothermal development has historically been constrained by a single persistent bottleneck: drilling. Drilling accounts for 30% to 57% of total geothermal project costs, making it the primary economic barrier to wider deployment. The challenges are formidable—hard crystalline rocks, extreme temperatures exceeding 374°C, high pressures, and corrosive downhole environments all push conventional drilling technologies to their limits. However, a new generation of advanced drilling technologies is emerging that promises to fundamentally tra...