This report focuses on the vast, untapped potential for electricity generation, heating and cooling, which can be accessed by drilling deep wells to harness the heat within the Earth. The report explores new advances in ‘next-generation’ geothermal technologies, which drill down to greater depths to access higher heat resources. Below 7km deep, almost every region on the planet has technically suitable heat resources. This is promising for Southeast Asian countries for example, which may have less wind resource availability. The oil and gas industries’ transferable skills, data, technologies and supply chains are central to driving down the costs of development, and 80% of investment in a geothermal project involves capacity and skills readily available in these industries. The report suggests approaches to social, policy and technical challenges to successfully scale up geothermal energy uptake globally.  

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Unlike wind or solar PV, which are variable in their energy output, geothermal provides continuous baseload power, and plants can operate at maximum capacity all year round. It is a firm, dispatchable, low-emissions and clean source of energy, which by 2035 could be on a par or below hydro, nuclear and bioenergy for cheapness of cost (around $50 per megawatt hour). The report states that geothermal resources constructed at depths of below 8km can deliver 600TW of capacity, with an operating lifespan of 25 years, and estimates that total cumulative investment in geothermal could reach $2.5 trillion by 2050. Geothermal also has the system flexibility to stabilize electricity grids as variable renewables expand, through services such as ramping, capability, frequency regulation and inertia. If the technology continues to improve, and project costs are reduced as anticipated, geothermal could rise from currently meeting less than 1% of global energy demand currently, to providing 15% of global electricity demand by 2050. At its full potential, geothermal would be sufficient to meet global electricity demand 140 times over, in addition to providing waste heat for district heating or industrial processes. Significant uptake of geothermal is a vital component in accelerating our journey towards the decarbonised global economy of the future.

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From a Repowering perspective, this technology becomes cost-competitive with other low-emissions energy sources when upfront investment and construction costs are minimised below current levels. Repowering by retrofitting coal-fired power plants (CFPPs) with clean technology eliminates the requirement for greenfield site development, and reuses much of the existing grid infrastructure, buildings and workforce. There are incredible opportunities to increase the economic attractiveness of geothermal ventures by selecting existing CFPP sites for drilling. Regions such as China, India and Southeast Asia are transitioning away from their heavy reliance on coal-fired power for electricity and heating, and economic development and electricity demand is rapidly rising. These countries could use geothermal as an affordable domestic option, reducing coal-fired dependency and the need for additional construction of CFPPs, maintaining energy security in the region, and reducing the market volatility around the need for fossil fuel imports. Geothermal could also be used to complement large amounts of solar PV and wind in regions such as Europe and the United States, replacing the capacity of decommissioned CFPP sites while reusing the expensive site materials and grid connections.