Geothermal power plants: Overview
Tapping the planet's own heat for round-the-clock electricity
Tapping the planet's own heat for round-the-clock electricity What this tile covers Steam or hot water from underground reservoirs drives turbines. Share of use.06% share of world energy supply (2024)Share of world total energy supply captured or extracted by each method, 2024 (latest year where noted). Denominator is the Energy Institute Statistical Review 2025 total of 592.2 EJ (physical energy content method); electricity from wind, solar, hydro and geothermal is counted at output, nuclear at reactor heat. Heat and biomass flows outside EI's total are set against the same 592.2 EJ. Geothermal electricity 99 TWh = 0.356 EJ of 592.2 EJ (calculated), counted at electrical output as in EI. Source: Renewables 2025 Global Status Report: Geothermal, REN21.
Key facts
| Output | Electricity |
| Chain | Deep-Earth heat → steam (or working fluid) → mechanical → electrical |
Included from the reference tables
- Dry steam plants
- Single- and double-flash plants
- Binary cycle plants (organic Rankine, Kalina)
Linked to the material world
H₂O WaterAlso in Geothermal
AGS Advanced geothermalGSH Geothermal direct use and ground-source heat pumpsExplore paths from here
More on this tile in the tabs above: efficiency, techniques, resources and labour, impact on the biosphere.