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Italy FER2 zero-emissions geothermal auction: 29.4MW projects approved

Italy’s FER2 Auction Approves Two Zero‑Emissions Geothermal Projects — What It Means for the Market Overview: FER2’s first geothermal auction and the winners Italy’s FER2 incentive mechanism — established by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE) to stimulate renewable investment through long‑term Contracts for Difference (CfDs) — has completed its first geothermal tender, awarding favourable rankings to two zero‑emissions projects with a combined capacity of 29.4 MW. The auction aimed to allocate a dedicated 30 MW quota for geothermal plants that operate with no net emissions, and it selected: - Pola 1: a 24.4 MW project in Jolanda di Savoia, Ferrara. - ITW & LKW Geotermia Italia: a 5 MW plant in Castel Giorgio, Terni. Two other bids — a 12.69 MW project in Castelnuovo di Val di Cecina by Magma Energy Italia and a 5 MW proposal in Monterotondo Marittimo from Enel Green Power Italia — were excluded from the final rankings. The FER2 framework sets explicit timeli...

From Orphan Wells to Clean Power: Colorado’s Bold Geothermal Shift

Gradient Geothermal Supporting First-in-the-Nation Colorado Initiative to Transform Orphan Oil & Gas Wells into Geothermal and Carbon Storage Assets By: Robert Buluma In a groundbreaking move that bridges the fossil fuel era with a clean energy future, Gradient Geothermal, a Denver-based innovator in geothermal technology, has announced its support for a pioneering technical study led by Colorado's Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) and the Colorado Energy Office (CEO). Announced on March 3, 2026, this initiative marks the first statewide effort of its kind to repurpose orphaned oil and gas wells long considered environmental liabilities—into valuable assets for geothermal energy production and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). Orphaned wells are abandoned oil and gas wells with no identifiable owner or operator responsible for plugging them. In Colorado, the ECMC oversees an Orphaned Well Program that identifies, prioritizes, and addresses these sites to pr...

Yeager Energy Expands Geothermal in Bergschenhoek with Second Doublet

Yeager Energy Expands Geothermal Footprint in Bergschenhoek: A Major Boost for Sustainable Heat in Dutch Greenhouse Horticulture By: Robert Buluma In the heart of the Netherlands’ vibrant greenhouse sector, a quiet revolution is underway. Deep beneath the fertile polders of Bergschenhoek, in the Oostland region of South Holland, Yeager Energy is accelerating its commitment to clean, reliable, and affordable energy. The company recently announced plans to expand with a second geothermal doublet — and possibly a third — at the Schreyrackseweg site in Bergschenhoek. This development builds directly on the existing successful operation (formerly Wayland Energy) and signals growing momentum in the Dutch geothermal sector, particularly for one of the country’s most energy-intensive industries: greenhouse horticulture. This expansion comes at a critical time. Dutch greenhouses, which produce a significant portion of Europe’s vegetables, flowers, and plants, face immense pressure to decarbon...

Mercury Opens Fifth Unit at Ngā Tamariki Geothermal Station

Mercury New Zealand' s recent milestone at the Ngā Tamariki Geothermal Station marks a significant advancement in the country's push toward a sustainable, renewable energy future.  By :  Robert Buluma On March 17, 2026, Mercury officially opened the fifth generation unit at the station near Taupō, following the project's announcement in 2023, groundbreaking in 2024, and remarkably swift completion in under two years. This $220 million expansion enhances New Zealand's renewable energy capacity at a time when electricity demand is rising due to electrification trends, population growth, and economic needs. Background on Ngā Tamariki Geothermal Station Located about 17 km northeast of Taupō in the central North Island, Ngā Tamariki has been operational since 2013. The station harnesses the region's abundant geothermal resources from the Taupō Volcanic Zone, one of the world's most active geothermal areas. Prior to the expansion, it featured four generation units w...

PGE Invests $3 Million in Green Hydrogen Pilot: Indonesia's Geothermal Leap Toward Net-Zero

PGE's $3 Million Leap into Green Hydrogen: Pioneering Indonesia's Sustainable Energy Revolution By: Robert Buluma  In an era where climate change looms large and the world races toward net-zero emissions, Indonesia's energy giant PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE) is making waves with a groundbreaking initiative. Announced on February 11, 2026, PGE is investing approximately three million US dollars in a green hydrogen pilot project at Ulubelu, Lampung. This isn't just another corporate announcement—it's a bold step toward transforming geothermal power into a clean fuel source that could redefine low-carbon energy strategies. Imagine harnessing the Earth's natural heat to produce hydrogen that's as green as the forests of Sumatra. Intrigued? Let's dive deeper into this captivating story of innovation, sustainability, and national pride. The Rise of Green Hydrogen: A Game-Changer in the Energy Transition Green hydrogen is often hailed as the "fue...

Vulcan Energy's G-LEP Plant in Landau Paves the Way for Europe's Sustainable Lithium Revolution

Breaking Ground: Vulcan Energy's G-LEP Plant in Landau Paves the Way for Europe's Sustainable Lithium Revolution By: Robert Buluma In the heart of Germany's Rhineland-Palatinate region, a groundbreaking ceremony marked the laying of the foundation stone for the first optimized Geothermal and Lithium Extraction Plant (G-LEP) in Landau, spearheaded by Vulcan Energy Resources, an Australian-German company. As Petra Dick-Walther, State Secretary in the Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, and Mobility of Rhineland-Palatinate, described in her recent social media post, this project represents a "quantum leap into the future." It enables the simultaneous extraction of climate-neutral lithium and generation of renewable energy from the hot thermal beds of the Upper Rhine Graben, opening new avenues for Germany's energy transition, supply security, and Europe's sovereignty over critical resources. Lithium, a key component in batteries for electri...

Geothermal Exploration Planned in Ayvacık, Türkiye – Doğal Hayat Project

Doğal Hayat Geothermal plans to drill an exploration well in Yeşilyurt, Ayvacık, Türkiye, to assess local geothermal potential for sustainable agriculture and tourism. By: Robert Buluma The project’s main goal is to evaluate the local geothermal potential and explore sustainable uses for agriculture and tourism. The plan includes drilling an exploration well (YO‑01) on parcel 160, block 7, within the company’s geothermal licence area (access number 3248844). The site spans roughly 9,000 m² of privately owned land, strategically chosen for its geothermal potential. Because the land is classified as an olive grove, all operations will comply with Turkey’s Olive Tree Law (No. 3573) and Soil Protection and Land Use Law (No. 5403). The regulatory authority has determined that a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA/ÇED) is not required at this stage. If geothermal resources are confirmed, Doğal Hayat Geothermal plans to develop tourism and agricultural applications, including thermal to...

Kenya’s Geothermal Power Fuels Africa’s First Green Ammonia Revolution

From Steam to Soil:  KenGen and Kaishan Pioneer Kenya’s Green Ammonia Revolution By:  Robert Buluma Kenya is taking a bold step toward green industrialization. In a landmark collaboration, KenGen and Kaishan  Group have teamed up to develop Africa’s first large-scale geothermal-powered green ammonia and fertilizer plant at Olkaria in Naivasha. The project, valued at around $800 million , will utilize 165 MW of geothermal steam and power supplied by KenGen under a 30-year agreement. Kaishan’s subsidiary, Kaishan Terra Green Ammonia Limited , will construct and operate the facility, which is expected to produce over 100,000 tons of green ammonia annually—processed into fertilizer products like urea and ammonium nitrate. Transforming Kenya’s Energy and Agricultural Landscape This project marks a turning point for Kenya’s geothermal sector. It extends the value of geothermal energy beyond electricity generation, proving that steam can fuel not just turbines—but also ...

Ormat Technologies Expands U.S. Geothermal Portfolio with Acquisition of Blue Mountain Power Plant in Nevada

Ormat Technologies Acquires Blue Mountain Geothermal Power Plant for $88 Million Strategic Expansion in the U.S. Geothermal Energy Market By: Robert Buluma In a significant move poised to strengthen its foothold in the U.S. renewable energy sector, Ormat Technologies Inc. has announced the acquisition of the Blue Mountain geothermal power plant located in Humboldt County, Nevada . This 20 MW facility, formerly owned by Cyrq Energy , was acquired for USD 88 million , marking a strategic milestone in Ormat's ongoing growth strategy. This acquisition demonstrates Ormat’s commitment to bolstering its geothermal energy portfolio in the United States while contributing to the nation's clean energy goals. The Blue Mountain geothermal project not only adds capacity to Ormat’s existing generation assets but also sets the stage for further technological and operational enhancements.  Overview of the Blue Mountain Geothermal Power Plant The Blue Mountain facility, originally commis...

Driving the Heat Transition in Hanover with Eavor Technology

  A Climate-Neutral Future for Hanover’s District Heating By: Robert Buluma The city of Hanover is taking a bold step toward a climate-friendly future with the implementation of an innovative geothermal energy project by Eavor in collaboration with enercity.  This groundbreaking initiative aims to cover 15 to 20 percent of Hanover’s district heating needs using cutting-edge Eavor-Loop™ technology, significantly reducing reliance on coal-fired power plants and advancing the city's heat transition goals. The Hanover Geothermal Project: A Game Changer for District Heating Eavor is developing two Eavor-Loops™ in the Lahe district, each with a heat output of 15 MW. Once operational, this system will generate up to 250 million kilowatt hours of geothermal energy annually. This is equivalent to supplying heat for approximately 20,000 homes within the enercity supply area, ensuring a stable, renewable, and climate-neutral energy source. Replacing Coal with Sustainable Geothermal Energ...

Sanko Energi Announces Record-Breaking Discovery: Turkey’s Hottest Geothermal Production Well at 308°C

In a major breakthrough for renewable energy in Turkey, Sanko Energi has announced the successful discovery of what is now being hailed as Turkey’s hottest geothermal production well reaching an astonishing 308 degrees Celsius.  By:  Robert Buluma This record-setting temperature not only underlines the immense potential of Turkey’s geothermal resources but also marks a pivotal moment in the nation’s sustainable energy journey. A New Chapter in Turkey’s Geothermal Revolution Turkey has long been recognized as a geothermal powerhouse, thanks to its unique geological structure and abundant geothermal reservoirs. The discovery of a production well reaching 308°C by Sanko Energi pushes the limits of what was previously thought possible and signals a promising future for the country’s renewable energy sector. Key Highlights of the Discovery: Unprecedented Temperature: At 308°C, this well sets a new record for geothermal production in Turkey. Enhanced Production Potential: ...

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Eavor Demobilizes Rigs in Geretsried: What It Means for Closed-Loop Geothermal Investors, Heat Markets, and Project Risk

Eavor Demobilizes Rigs from Geretsried: What It Really Means for Closed-Loop Geothermal For three years, two drilling rigs on a farm estate near Geretsried, a Bavarian town about 40 km south of Munich, stood as the symbol of the world's most ambitious closed-loop geothermal experiment. Now in October 2026,  Eavor Technologies, the Calgary-based developer of the Eavor-Loop, has told the town and its heating utility that both rigs would leave the site . The company said keeping idle rigs and specialist services on site was costly, and that releasing them would help put the project in the strongest position to continue with Loop 2 once its commercial structure is reworked . On the surface, this is a logistics decision. Underneath, it is one of the clearest signals yet about where first-of-a-kind geothermal technology stands, and how hard it is to turn a technical proof into a bankable business. This article explains exactly what happened, what the move means and what it does not mean...

Endurance Energy Tests World's First Subsea Geothermal Well at Axial Seamount

Endurance Energy Tests the World's First Subsea Geothermal Well: What the Axial Seamount Demonstration Really Proved What if geothermal energy did not need a power plant on land? What if electricity could be produced directly from the Earth's heat beneath the ocean, with generators sitting on the seafloor and sending power to coastal grids? On October 19, 2026, Seattle-based startup Endurance Energy announced a major step toward that idea. The company said it had drilled and completed the world's first subsea geothermal well and placed a 3-ton test power plant nearly a mile beneath the Pacific. It also reported net-positive electricity from heat at an active underwater volcano, according to its announcement on PR Newswire. The headline numbers are modest. The Adélie prototype produced more electricity than it used for about 8.7 seconds. During that time it delivered a median net output of about 2 kilowatts and a peak of 16.5 kilowatts. One detail matters more than any other...

Djibouti Pays KenGen: $1M Offer on a Five-Year Geothermal Drilling Debt

Djibouti Pays KenGen: A $1 Million Offer on a Five-Year-Old Geothermal Drilling Debt Djibouti has finally moved to pay part of what it owes Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) for drilling work done near Lake Assal. The amount is small next to KenGen's balance sheet. What it says about selling geothermal drilling services across Africa matters a lot more. KenGen's latest annual report says Djibouti's state geothermal agency, the Office Djiboutien de Développement de l'Énergie Géothermique (ODDEG), has offered a first instalment of about $1 million (Sh129 million) against outstanding invoices of $2.13 million (Sh276.03 million), according to Business Daily. "ODDEG has acknowledged the debt and has proposed an initial payment of $1 million as the first instalment towards settlement," KenGen said in the report. KenGen is Kenya's largest power producer, with about 54% of the market. The Kenyan government owns 70% of the company and the public holds t...

BLM Nevada Geothermal Lease Auction Boosts Renewable Energy Investment amid Solar Land Conflict

BLM’s Nevada Geothermal Lease Auction Signals Rising Competition for Federal Energy Land The Bureau of Land Management’s latest geothermal lease sale in Nevada attracted nearly $4.83 million in total receipts, highlighting growing investor interest in geothermal resources as electricity demand rises . The auction also exposed an increasingly important land-use conflict: several geothermal parcels overlap with proposed utility-scale solar projects, including NextEra Energy’s 1,000-megawatt Sawtooth Energy Center. The October 20, 2026, sale offered 83 parcels covering approximately 265,155 acres across 10 Nevada counties. Bidders placed offers on 60 parcels covering 186,641 acres, while 23 parcels received no bids. The results provide a new measure of competition for federal geothermal acreage in one of the United States’ most important geothermal states. Auction Results The Nevada auction attracted 32 registered bidders, of which 18 submitted at least one bid. Across the sale, bidders s...

Menengai Geothermal Project Delays Expose Kenya’s Broken Steam Supply Model

Menengai’s Broken Promise: How Kenya’s Geothermal Model Lost the Steam Thematic image of the Olkaria Geothermal Field  Kenya’s Menengai geothermal project was sold as a model of modern public-private partnership. The state would carry the difficult and expensive burden of geothermal exploration and drilling. Private power producers would then build, own and operate power plants. Geothermal Development Company would supply the steam; the independent power producers would convert it into electricity; Kenya Power would buy the output. On paper, the arrangement was elegant. In practice, Menengai has exposed a far more uncomfortable reality: Kenya’s public steam-supply model is not delivering the certainty it promised. Menengai Phase I was designed to produce 105 megawatts from three 35 MW plants. GDC’s own project page says the three plants were awarded to Globeleq Menengai Geothermal, Sosian Menengai Geothermal Power and OrPower Twenty Two under a build-own-operate structure. Yet the ...

Geiselbullach Geothermal Project Confirms 10 MW District Heating Capacity

Geothermal milestone at Geiselbullach: 10 MW of heat confirmed after successful second deep well test On 15 August 2026 the Geiselbullach geothermal project reached a pivotal technical milestone: performance testing of the second deep production well completed successfully, delivering a sustained flow of 90 liters per second of thermal water at 79–80 °C. These measured parameters translate into roughly 10 MW of usable thermal power for district heating, enough to replace a portion of heat currently supplied by the municipal waste-to-energy plant (AHKW) and to create headroom for expanding the regional district heating network. The result confirms the project’s technical assumptions and moves the scheme into system-integration and commissioning activities ahead of planned commercial deliveries for the 2027 heating season. This article explains the test results and their significance, outlines the technical and operational consequences, and places the Geiselbullach development in the bro...

KenGen Risks Losing Olkaria Geothermal Wells Over Licence Error

KenGen Risks Losing Olkaria Wells Over 18-Year Licence Blunder Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) faces a serious legal and operational risk at Olkaria after an error in the coordinates of its geothermal licence left part of the company’s wells, steam infrastructure and other assets outside its legally recognised area. The licensing mistake, made nearly two decades ago, remains unresolved despite the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum acknowledging the problem in 2017.  The dispute has raised questions about the security of KenGen’s investments, the government’s management of geothermal resources and the potential consequences for Kenya’s electricity supply. Olkaria is the country’s most important geothermal centre and accounts for the overwhelming majority of Kenya’s installed geothermal generation capacity.  Licence Error Exposes Strategic Assets The problem dates back to September 19, 2008, when the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum issued KenGen a licence covering ...

Lithium Harvest Plans Alberta Geothermal Power and Lithium Project

Lithium Harvest’s Alberta Geothermal Project Could Combine Renewable Power and Domestic Lithium Production Lithium Harvest Holding A/S has signed a letter of intent with an unnamed geothermal development partner to establish a joint venture for an integrated geothermal power and lithium production facility in Alberta, Canada. At full nameplate capacity, the proposed project is expected to produce approximately 28,500 tonnes of lithium carbonate annually while generating 0.67 TWh of renewable electricity each year. The development would use a single geothermal resource to supply both baseload power and lithium-bearing brine for direct lithium extraction and refining.  A Dual-Output Geothermal Development The proposed Alberta facility reflects a growing effort to extract more value from geothermal resources than electricity generation alone. Traditional geothermal power projects produce electricity by bringing hot underground fluids to the surface. Depending on resource temperature a...

Corva and Oliasoft Connect Well Design With Real-Time Drilling

Corva and Oliasoft Build a Continuous Learning Loop for Smarter Well Construction Introduction Corva AI and Oliasoft have announced a strategic collaboration designed to connect well engineering, real-time drilling operations and post-well analysis through a bidirectional digital workflow. The integration links Oliasoft WellDesign with Corva’s Real-Time AI platform, creating a continuous information loop in which engineering plans guide field execution and drilling results improve future well designs.  The partnership addresses one of the persistent weaknesses in modern well construction: the separation between planning software and operational systems. Although operators generate large volumes of engineering and drilling data, those datasets often remain fragmented across departments, applications and reporting processes. The result is slower decision-making, repeated manual work and limited transfer of lessons from one well to the next. By connecting design assumptions with liv...

California Court Orders New Environmental Review for Imperial County Geothermal Lithium Project

California Appeals Court Orders New Environmental Review for Imperial County Geothermal–Lithium Project Image: California Salton Lake Sea Hell’s Kitchen geothermal and lithium extraction plan sent back for deeper water, air-quality and mitigation analysis under CEQA A California appeals court has ordered Imperial County to conduct a more rigorous environmental review of the proposed Hell’s Kitchen geothermal power plant and lithium extraction project near the Salton Sea. The Fourth District Court of Appeal found that the county’s original environmental impact report (EIR) did not adequately address long-term water availability, enforceable mitigation measures for water shortages, or potential air-quality impacts tied to the receding Salton Sea. The ruling partially reverses a lower court decision and remands the case to Imperial County Superior Court, requiring the county and project developer Controlled Thermal Resources to address the identified deficiencies before the project can m...