Geothermal Energy News

As we do every year, team ThinkGeoEnergy will be taking a two-week summer break. We will be back with regular news reporting starting 21 July 2026, and the next edition of our weekly newsletter will be out on 28 July. No news articles will be published during this two-week period. However, we will maintain some activity on our social media pages, so check us out on LinkedIn and Instagram. Beyond just giving us a chance to recharge, our annual summer break is also the perfect time to recalibrate

For four days in June 2026, Calgary became the global capital of geothermal energy. The World Geothermal Congress (WGC 2026), the flagship event of global geothermal industry, brought together thousands of delegates from industry, government, academia, finance, and civil society to discuss how geothermal can play a larger role in the global energy transition. Organized by the International Geothermal Association (IGA) in partnership with Geothermal Canada, WGC 2026 attracted more than 2000 deleg

Just ahead of going into our annual summer break, I thought it is time to share a little bit of an update. When ThinkGeoEnergy first went online in late 2008, the objective was straightforward: provide news and updates on global geothermal development something that at that time received very little international attention. As I look back, I never imagined that ThinkGeoEnergy would become what it is today nor continue to evolve. For me and so many other “passionate international geothermal

Stadtwerke Husum GmbH, the local utility company of the city of Husum in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany has commissioned Essen-based DMT GmbH & Co. KG to conduct a feasibility study related to a planned geothermal heating project. The results of the feasibility study are expected by the end of the year. If the results of the study are positive, the project will proceed with further seismic surveys and the approval process for test drilling will begin. Earlier this year, Stadtwerke Husum announc

The Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) have indicated that preparatory construction work will be starting this year for three sites selected for the “Geothermal Frontier Project.” Three of the sites are located in Shizukuishi Town in Iwate Prefecture and another one is in Yuzawa City in Akita Prefecture (as ThinkGeoEnergy had previously reported on). Under the Geothermal Frontier Project, the government will take the lead in undertaking resource surveys in geo

For more than a decade, the Utah Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (Utah FORGE) has served as the world’s premier field laboratory for Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), bringing together government, academia, national laboratories, and private industry to tackle the technical barriers that have long limited geothermal deployment. Rather than developing a commercial power plant, Utah FORGE was established with a singular mission: to de-risk the technologies, tools, and

The Coriance Group, through subsidiary Reseau Terra Confort, has announced the start of operations of the geothermal heating system serving the communes of Plessis-Robinson and Chatenay-Malabry, part of the Greater Paris Area in France. The heating network is expected to distribute up to 133 GWh of sustainable heating per year, thus avoiding the emissions of 31,500 tonnes of CO2, which is equivalent to the emissions of 26,520 vehicles. The start of drilling for the Terra Confort heating network

The British Geological Survey (BGS) has released the second version of the UK geothermal catalogue, which adds nearly 14,000 more data points derived from 800 sites to inform geothermal assessments. The digital release contains validated intellectual property rights and datasets from BGS-authored papers, new BGS thermal conductivity laboratory measurements and a bottom-hole temperature dataset from the UK Onshore Geophysical Library. First launched in 2025 (following an earlier version in 2024),

Abstract submission is now open for the 52nd Stanford Geothermal Workshop, taking place on 8-10 February 2027 at the Stanford University. Abstracts will be accepted until 8 October 2026. For accepted abstracts, full papers will be due on 29 January 2027. Click here to submit your abstract/s. Those who wish to attend can also register now. Papers will be presented on recent research relating to geothermal reservoirs including: Case Studies: reservoir response to production, effects of injection,

Join this upcoming webinar on the use of gravity and magnetic data to model the geothermal potential in Eastern Malaysia, featuring Bill Heins, Chief Geoscientist at Getech. The webinar, “Prospecting for Geothermal Development Opportunities East of the Main Range Using Gravity and Magnetics” is being hosted by the Department of Earth Sciences and Environment (JSBAS) at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Further details on the webinar are as follows: Date: 7 July 2026 Time: 08:00 &#8

Our special thanks to Dr. Ho Gong-Ruei of the National Museum of Natural Science for connecting with us and providing most of the material used in this article. About a month ago, a special geothermal exhibition was opened at the National Museum of Natural Science (NMNS) in Taichung, Taiwan. The exhibition, titled “Harmony with Geothermal: A Sustainable Dialogue on Humanity, Resources, and Environment”, is open from 4 June 2026 to 6 April 2027. The special exhibition is co-hosted by

OMV  and Energie Steiermark  have announced a joint geothermal project that could potentially supply 50% of the heating supply in the city of Graz in Austria. The announcement follows a successful seismic survey campaign and the negotiation for new contracts for the proposed geothermal project. Exploratory drilling is expected to commence before the end of 2026. Implementation of the “Tiefenkraft” project will be done through a joint development company between OMV (75%) and Energie

As reported yesterday locally, Germany-based Herrenknecht Vertical and regional energy utility Badenova plan to are planning to establish a joint venture to develop geothermal heating projects, beginning with the planned geothermal development in Hartheim in Southwest Germany. In statements to local media, representatives of the companies confirmed that discussions are at an advanced stage. The Board of Badenova is expected to go over the proposed cooperation later this month. The Hartheim proje

Registration is now open at super early-bird rates for the next edition of the GeoTHERM expo & congress, taking place on 25 and 26 February 2027 at Messe Offenburg in Germany. The super early bird rates are available only until 31 July 2026. Click here to register. “Over the past 20 years, GeoTHERM has evolved from a specialist event into one of the leading geothermal platforms. For us, this anniversary is not only an occasion to look back on an impressive success story, but above all an inc

PT PLN (Persero), through PT PLN Nusa Tenggara Development Main Unit (Unit Induk Pembangunan Nusa Tenggara / UIP Nusra) has announced that it has completed 100% of the infrastructure preparation work for the Mataloko geothermal power project in Ngada Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. With this development, the project will soon be ready to progress to the drilling phase. The completed infrastructure includes four wellpads (A, B, C, and D), a staging area, and 6.7 kilometers of access road.

A new decree has been published in France that broadens the scope of shallow geothermal installation that do not require declaration or authorization under the mining code. The decree (2026-537) has been published in the Official Journal dated 25/6/2026. Under the decree, the following have been added to the list of geothermal energy sources that are not subject to the mining code and therefore do not require declaration or authorization: Geothermal installations with open geothermal exchangers

Local media in China has reported that a pair of deep geothermal wells has been connected at depth in Henan Province, effectively creating a closed-loop geothermal system. The project was designed and constructed by Wanjiang New Energy with investment by Xinxiang Innovation Investment Co. Ltd. As detailed in the report, the system consists of two deep geothermal wells. The first well was drilled vertically to a depth exceeding 3500 meters. Another well, located only 35 meters way on the surface,

The planned geothermal heating project of Zukunftswärme M West (ZMW), which will cover the Germering, Puchheim, and western Munich, will be receiving federal funding from the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA). With the funding aid secured, the project will now proceed to a feasibility study, for which Fraunhofer IEG has been commissioned. ZMW is the joint development company formedby the neighboring cities of Germering (25%) and Puchheim (15%), along with utility Stad

The European Commission has led the signing of the first-ever EU tripartite agreement on energy storage, which aims to accelerate the deployment of energy storage to support renewable energy growth and strengthen electricity systems. As part of the signing of the agreement, the European Commission shared some examples of energy storage projects, including geothermal energy storage projects in Italy, Finland, and Luxembourg. The agreement was signed between EU energy ministers, representatives of

An exploration drilling campaign in the city of Tarragona in Spain has validated that shallow geothermal potential exists in at least six municipalities. The results of this campaign are now the basis for several proposals to develop geothermal heating and cooling solutions for each municipality. However, raising the initial investment for the projects will be the next major challenge. As ThinkGeoEnergy reported back in 2022, the city of Tarragona has collaborated with the Cartographic and Geolo