Advanced geothermal
New ways to reach heat where there is no natural reservoir.
Capture · Geothermal · No. 35
- Capture
- Output: Electricity
Borrowing shale drilling tricks, Fervo pulled over 10 MW from a single well, about three times its earlier project.
Chart: Illustration: Advanced geothermal
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
Most hot rock holds no natural reservoir. Enhanced systems crack it open with high-pressure water; closed loops pipe fluid through sealed wells and let heat seep in through about 16 km of wellbore.
Three things to know
- Eavor's Geretsried loop in Germany uses two 4.5-5 km wells with 12 sideways branches and first sent power to the grid in December 2025.
- Up to 80% of geothermal investment uses skills and equipment that transfer straight from the oil and gas industry.
- A 20 MW enhanced plant needs about 71,000 m³ of water to crack open its hot rock.
The journey
- 1 Hot dry rockHeat, but no natural water reservoir
- 2 DrillingDeep horizontal wells, oilfield style
- 3 Cracks or loopWater forced through fractures, or sealed pipes
- 4 Hot fluidReturns at about 120-140 °C or more
- 5 Binary plantTurns the heat into grid power