Page 21 - bne IntelliNews magazine February 2025

bne February 2025 Companies & Markets I 21
New technology means geothermal could potentially produce 800 GW of power a year – enough to power the US – according to a groundbreaking report from the IEA. / bne IntelliNews
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Geothermal energy poised for major global expansion, says IEA chief Fatih Birol
Ben Aris in Berlin
"Geothermal energy could see transformative global growth thanks to advancements in technology
and expertise from the oil and gas sector," the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a groundbreaking report entitled “The Future of Geothermal Energy” released in December. The IEA has decupled its estimate of the potential power generation capacity of geothermal to 800 GW – almost enough to power the entire EU or US economies.
According to Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the IEA, there is huge untapped potential in geothermal energy to provide clean and secure energy worldwide that also solves the most basic
of the problems associated with renewable energy: providing
a base load power supply when the sun is not shining or the wind is now blowing. Geothermal's greatest advantage is that the supply of power is constant and neither dependent on the weather nor the diurnal cycle.
With electricity consumption expected to surge due to the rising use of air conditioning, electric vehicles and data
centres, geothermal energy offers a reliable alternative. “With electricity use set to grow strongly to run air conditioners, EVs and data centres, geothermal offers clean power round-the- clock,” Birol said.
800 GW potential
The potential of geothermal energy is massive. The IEA has upgraded its assessment of the total power available from the earth ten-fold to 800 GW – a bit less than the circa 1,000 GW the US or Europe generated last year – up from the 16.3 GW produced globally in 2023.
Geothermal will never replace solar and wind from amongst the renewables, which will remain cheaper to produce and easier to install, but the IEA says that it will make up 15% of the growth of new generating capacity to 2050 and nearly all that new capacity will be from investment into renewables. Geothermal’s anticipated rapid growth will be driven by the major advantages it enjoys over the other renewables.
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