ALPHAXIOMS Geothermal News & Energy Research

University of Aberdeen to Drill Scotland’s First Deep Geothermal Test Borehole in £1 Million UKRI-Funded Pilot By:  Robert Buluma Published on  – 9 December 2025 Big news from the Granite City: the University of Aberdeen has just been awarded £1 million by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to launch the Aberdeen Geothermal Feasibility Pilot (AGFP) the most ambitious city-scale geothermal exploration project ever undertaken in Scotland. If planning permission is granted, the university will drill an instrumented research borehole to over 500 metres depth right on the historic King’s College campus in Old Aberdeen. This will be the first time anyone has collected direct, in-field temperature, geological, and hydrological data from Aberdeen’s famous granite basement the same hot granite that has been quietly sitting under the city for 400 million years. Why Aberdeen + Granite = Geothermal Gold Granite is radioactive (tiny amounts of uranium and thorium), which means it generates ...

Milestone Achieved: New Zealand’s Newest Geothermal Power Station TOPP2 Successfully Synchronised to the National Grid By:  Robert Buluma On 3 December 2025, a significant new chapter in Aotearoa New Zealand’s renewable energy story began when the 49 MW Te Onetapu Power Plant 2 (TOPP2) , the country’s newest geothermal station , was successfully synchronised to the national grid for the first time. Located in the Kawerau geothermal field, TOPP2 is the result of a unique and groundbreaking partnership between Eastland Generation (a subsidiary of Eastland Group) and Ngāti Tūwharetoa Geothermal Assets Ltd, the commercial arm of the Ngāti Tūwharetoa Settlement Trust. A True Partnership Success Story This is not just another power station. TOPP2 represents one of the most successful examples of post-Treaty settlement iwi ownership and operation in the energy sector. Ngāti Tūwharetoa Geothermal Assets supplies the geothermal steam and heat under a long-term agreement, while Eastland Gene...

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...

Exciting PhD Opportunities in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University (Fall 2026 Admission) By: Robert Buluma If you’re a prospective graduate student interested in cutting-edge research in climate science, glaciology, physical oceanography, geospace physics, volcanology, or cryosphere processes, Cornell University’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (EAS) just announced a fantastic set of fully funded PhD positions starting in Fall 2026. The department posted a detailed call on LinkedIn (shared widely on X/Twitter by Prof. Matt Pritchard) listing specific projects and the faculty members actively recruiting students right now. These are not generic openings; each professor has described their project and what kind of student they are looking for. Here are the current opportunities (as of early December 2025): 1. Climate Dynamics   Professor: Flavio Lehner (flavio.lehner@cornell.edu)   Focus: Climate variability with emphasis on how sea-surfa...

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...

Major Geothermal Projects of Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGEO) Set to Secure US$613 Million (Rp10.18 Trillion) Funding from World Bank, ADB, and Others By: Robert Buluma   Four flagship geothermal projects of PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGEO) have entered Indonesia’s 2025-2029 Blue Book, opening the door to US$613 million (Rp10.18 trillion) in concessional loans from World Bank, ADB, JBIC, and JICA. The projects will add 215 MW of clean energy and boost local economies.   Indonesia, sitting on the Pacific Ring of Fire, possesses the world’s largest geothermal reserves  nearly 24 GW of proven potential. Yet only about 2,300 MW has been tapped so far. That is about to change in a big way. On December 4, 2025, PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy Tbk (IDX: PGEO) announced that four of its major geothermal projects have officially been included in Indonesia’s prestigious Blue Book 2025-2029 compiled by Bappenas (Ministry of National Development Planning). This inclusion ...

Hyundai E&C Breaks Record: Building the World’s Largest Single-Unit Geothermal Power Plant in Indonesia By:  Robert Buluma In a remarkable feat of engineering, Hyundai Engineering & Construction ( Hyundai E&C) has just completed the Sarulla Geothermal Power Plant (Sarulla GPP) in North Sumatra, Indonesia now officially recognized as the world’s largest single-unit geothermal power plant with a capacity of 330 MW. This milestone not only showcases Korean engineering excellence on the global stage but also marks a significant step forward for clean, reliable renewable energy in Southeast Asia. A Giant Leap for Geothermal Energy Located in the Sarulla region of North Sumatra, the plant consists of three units that together deliver 330 megawatts of clean electricity enough to power approximately 2.1 million Indonesian households. What makes Sarulla truly special is its single-unit design. While many geothermal projects around the world are built in smaller, modular phases...