According to a new paper by the think tank, Carnegie Endowment, geothermal energy’s moment is here — and North America is a hotspot for innovation.
“North America, particularly the Western part of the United States, is the optimal environment for next-generation geothermal commercialisation,” the report notes, “because of strong hot dry rock resources, incumbent geothermal and drilling industries, deep expertise in complex drilling techniques from shale production, proximity to equipment (such as rigs and casings), and a dynamic startup culture and venture capital ecosystem.”
The report, Unlocking Global Geothermal Energy: Pathways to Scaling International Deployment of Next-Generation Geothermal, also outlines some the technologies shaping the industry and identifies its global potential.
The paper considers the potential of next‑generation geothermal technologies — particularly Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) and Advanced/Closed‑Loop Geothermal Systems (AGS) — to transform global clean power generation in the years ahead.
These advances leverage oil and gas industry expertise, such as deep and horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, to access superhot rock deep underground.
Again, North America is in a strong position to lead in this regard.
Meteoric electricity demand growth from data centres and Big Tech’s interest in next-generation geothermal only furthers this argument, the report adds.
“The world’s first commercial scale EGS facility is being finalised in Utah, closed-loop systems are under development in California and New Mexico, and other early-stage projects are beginning in the United States and Canada,” the report states.
“The US Air Force has contracted nearly all regional next-generation geothermal firms to develop their technologies on American military installations across Texas and California."
The report also highlights ways in which the US could take the lead in spreading these technologies to other parts of the globe.
It suggests the US International Development Finance Corporation move beyond traditional commercial loans to create risk-sharing instruments tailored to geothermal power’s unique challenges.
It also states that the US could incorporate geothermal into existing bilateral and multilateral energy, economic, and security platforms — a tactic it calls advancing ‘geothermal diplomacy’.