ALPHAXIOMS Geothermal News & Energy Research

Prenzlau’s Geothermal Breakthrough: A Decisive Step Toward a Fully Renewable Heat Future By: Robert Buluma The city of Prenzlau, located in northeastern Germany, has reached a major milestone in its transition toward sustainable energy. In December 2025, Stadtwerke Prenzlau announced a decisive breakthrough in its geothermal project after successfully encountering geothermal water at a depth of 983 meters. This discovery represents a critical step forward for the city’s ambition to fully decarbonize its heat supply and positions Prenzlau as a leading example of how medium-sized towns can harness geothermal energy for district heating. The geothermal water discovered during drilling operations is estimated to be around 200 million years old and is contained within a saline sandstone formation deep underground. With a temperature of approximately 44°C and a planned production rate of 130 cubic meters per hour, the resource offers a reliable and continuous source of renewable heat. A test...

A 400-Year-Old Tudor Mansion Just Chose Next-Gen Geothermal  And It Changes Everything Posted by  Robert Buluma | December 11, 2025 Deep in the rolling countryside of Suffolk, England, stands Kentwell Hall ,a moated, red-brick Tudor masterpiece built in 1563, complete with octagonal guard towers, a 16th-century long gallery, and gardens that have hosted queens. For centuries it has been heated (if you can call it that) by a wheezing, century-old oil boiler that gulps thousands of litres of heating oil every winter yet still leaves the 400-year-old rooms chilly and the fuel bills astronomical. That is about to change , dramatically, invisibly, and permanently. This week it was announced that Kentwell Hall has selected CeraPhi Energy , a British deep-geothermal pioneer, to carry out a world-first feasibility study and, if successful, install a closed-loop deep geothermal heating system that will make the entire estate net-zero with almost zero visible impact on the Grade I list...

Exciting PhD Opportunity at Utrecht University : Unravelling Clogging Mechanisms in Porous and Fractured Rocks (Deadline: 14 December 2025) Published on  December 2025 By: Robert Buluma Are you a curious MSc graduate in Earth Sciences, Geology, Physics, or a related field who wants to work on cutting-edge research that directly supports the energy transition? Then this fully funded PhD position at Utrecht University (The Netherlands) might be exactly what you’re looking for! The Project – Why it matters Many of tomorrow’s energy solutions  geothermal energy, CO₂ storage, underground hydrogen storage , depend on injecting and extracting large volumes of fluids into the subsurface. A major risk that can kill these projects is clogging: pores and fractures gradually get blocked by particles, precipitates, or biomass, reducing permeability and sometimes stopping flow altogether. Although individual clogging mechanisms are reasonably well studied, we still lack a good understanding...

Breakthrough Beneath the Beach: Amsterdam Region Hits Geothermal Paydirt at Strandeiland By: Robert Buluma The Netherlands just took a giant leap toward fossil-free heating. On the artificial island of Strandeiland (part of Amsterdam’s fast-growing IJburg district), the SCAN exploration well has officially confirmed what the geothermal community has been hoping for: a thick, hot, and , most importantly permeable reservoir in the Slochteren Formation. Key numbers that matter:   Reservoir thickness: 152 meters   Bottom-hole temperature: 66 °C   Permeability: confirmed via successful production and injection tests   That’s not screaming-hot by Icelandic standards, but for direct-use district heating in one of Europe’s densest urban areas, 66 °C is more than enough to supply thousands of homes with clean, baseload heat – forever. Why This Well Changes Everything for the Netherlands The Dutch government launched the SCAN program (Seismic Campaign Nethe...

Húsavík Geothermal Exploration Heats Up: Orkuveita Húsavíkur Drills for the Future By: Robert Buluma November 26, 2025 , If you’ve noticed drilling rigs popping up around Húsavík and the surrounding area lately, you’re not imagining things. Orkuveita Húsavíkur, the local geothermal utility, is in the middle of an ambitious new phase of temperature-gradient drilling to map the hidden geothermal resources beneath Norðurþing. The company has contracted Vatnaboranir ehf. to drill seven new shallow wells (70–90 meters deep) across the region. Three of these holes are specifically on the Bakki industrial area to investigate the potential for warm seawater (jarðsjór) that could supercharge land-based aquaculture projects. The rest are scattered around the Húsavík vicinity to hunt for high-temperature resources that could secure the town’s heating needs ,and possibly open the door to electricity generation , for decades to come. Why Now? Húsavík has been 100 % geothermal-heated since the 197...

First Utility-Owned Geothermal Network Set to Double with DOE Grant , A Bipartisan Clean Energy Win By: Robert Buluma In a political climate where clean energy funding is under siege, geothermal is emerging as the unexpected survivor. Just days ago, the U.S. Department of Energy greenlit an $8.6 million grant to expand the nation's pioneering utility-led geothermal heating and cooling network in Framingham, Massachusetts. This move, finalized under the Trump administration, signals that geothermal – reliable, efficient, and domestic – might just be the renewable technology that transcends partisan divides. The Framingham Pilot: A Groundbreaking Start Launched in 2024 by Eversource Energy , the Framingham project marked a U.S. first: a utility-owned networked geothermal system serving an entire neighborhood. Spanning residential homes, a school, a firehouse, and low-income housing, the initial phase taps into stable underground temperatures around 55°F via dozens of boreholes drill...

Big Blind: The Geothermal Discovery That Changes Everything By: Robert Buluma Utah startup  Zanskar Geothermal quietly dropped one of the most important announcements in American energy in decades. They discovered and confirmed “Big Blind” ,the first completely blind, commercial-grade geothermal system found in the United States in over thirty years. Let that sink in. No hot springs.   No fumaroles.   No steaming ground.   No prior wells.   Zero surface expression whatsoever. Just desert, sagebrush, and – 7,000 feet below,  a reservoir hot enough and permeable enough to support gigawatt-scale power production. This isn’t incremental progress. This is a paradigm breaker. Why “Blind” Discoveries Matter So Much For the last 40 years, geothermal development in the U.S. has been geographically handcuffed. You could only build plants where nature advertised the resource on the surface – think Yellowstone, The Geysers, or Imperial Valley. Ever...

Hot Nest Norway: The World’s Most Extraordinary Geothermal Spa Resort is Taking Shape Inside a Mountain By:  Robert Buluma Deep in the dramatic Gudbrandsdalen valley in Otta, Norway, something truly groundbreaking (literally) is happening. A former slate quarry is being transformed into Hot Nest Norway – a year-round luxury destination carved directly into the bedrock of the mountain, powered entirely by deep geothermal energy. This isn’t just another spa. It’s a visionary fusion of raw Norwegian nature, cutting-edge renewable energy, and jaw-dropping architecture that looks like it was designed by a collaboration between Tolkien and Tesla. What is Hot Nest Norway? Imagine walking into a mountain and discovering 3,000 m² of luxurious spaces:   20 uniquely designed hotel rooms   700 m² of geothermal-heated indoor and outdoor pools (yes, outdoor pools in the Norwegian winter – steaming at +38 °C while snow falls around you)   A fine-dining restaurant cel...

Europe Takes a Giant Leap Toward Lithium Independence: EIB Backs Vulcan Energy’s €2 Billion Lionheart Project with €250 Million By: Robert Buluma 3 December 2025 – In a move that could reshape Europe’s battery and electric-vehicle future, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has just signed a landmark €250 million financing agreement with Australian-German company Vulcan Energy for Phase One of the Lionheart Project in Germany’s Upper Rhine Valley. This isn’t just another mining project. It’s Europe’s first commercial-scale Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) operation that simultaneously produces battery-grade lithium and renewable geothermal heat and power – all with a net-zero carbon footprint. Why this matters for Europe Lithium is classified as both a critical and strategic raw material under the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act.   Europe currently imports >95% of its battery-grade lithium, mostly from Australia, Chile and China.   By 2030, the EU’s demand for lit...

Iceland's Geothermal Renaissance: Government Bets Big on Low-Enthalpy and Innovative Uses By: Robert Buluma Iceland has long been the poster child for geothermal energy. With legendary high-temperature fields powering everything from the famous Blue Lagoon to nearly 100% of the country’s electricity and district heating, most people assumed the geothermal story was already written. Apparently not. In a move that has the global geothermal community buzzing, the Icelandic government has just announced a massive ISK 600 million (roughly €4 million / $4.4 million USD) grant program specifically designed to kick-start innovative geothermal projects, with the state covering up to one-third of total project costs. What makes this announcement truly exciting isn’t the money itself (Iceland has funded geothermal before), but the deliberate shift in focus: low-enthalpy resources and non-traditional applications. Why This Matters  The Low-Enthalpy Revolution For decades, Iceland’s geothermal ...

DeepStor : Turning a Former Oil Field into a Giant Underground Heat Battery at KIT Campus North Published by  Robert Buluma : | November 2025 Imagine storing the surplus summer heat deep underground and bringing it back up in winter to warm an entire research campus  without burning any gas or emitting CO₂. That is exactly what the DeepStor research infrastructure at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Campus North is setting out to prove.  From black gold to green heat The Upper Rhine Graben, one of Europe’s classic oil provinces, still hides dozens of depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs beneath its surface. Instead of abandoning them, the DeepStor team wants to repurpose one of these former oil fields as a high-temperature seasonal heat storage  essentially a gigantic geothermal battery. Hot water (up to 130–150 °C) would be injected in summer when solar thermal collectors, waste heat from industry or even waste incineration plants produce more heat than needed. ...

First Gen and Unilever Philippines Renew Renewable Energy Partnership By:  Robert Buluma In a strong move toward sustainability, First Gen Corporation will continue to supply 10 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy (RE) to seven of Unilever Philippines’ facilities. This renewed partnership underscores both companies’ commitment to operational efficiency and environmental responsibility. The agreement covers Unilever’s production and distribution sites across Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, and Batangas . These facilities manufacture a wide array of products, from ice cream, sauces, and seasonings to beauty, personal care, and home care items. First Gen will source the power from the geothermal plants of its subsidiary, Energy Development Corp. (EDC) , located in Bicol, Tongonan in Leyte, and Palinpinon in Negros Oriental . “Since 2017, First Gen has been our partner in helping us reduce the carbon footprint of our manufacturing operations with a steady supply of renewable en...