The Superhot Blueprint
Drilling for superhot geothermal energy demands a new kind of thinking—a hybrid approach that combines the proven strengths of conventional drilling with the groundbreaking potential of millimeter waves.
Near the surface, we start with what the world knows best: conventional drilling.
Video Transcript
Drilling for superhot geothermal energy demands a new kind of thinking—a hybrid approach that combines the proven strengths of conventional drilling with the groundbreaking potential of millimeter waves.
Near the surface, we start with what the world knows best: conventional drilling. This method builds on more than a century of experience, infrastructure, and a global workforce shaped by the oil and gas industry since the late 1800s.
Conventional drilling is highly effective in sedimentary rock and at shallow depths. It uses a rotating drill bit at the end of a long pipe—called a drill string—to mechanically crush and grind through rock. And using a few well-known tricks in the industry, like circulation cooling, drill-string dynamics, and polycrystalline diamond compact bits, the range of conventional drilling can be extended to superhot conditions at Tier I sites to unlock hundreds of Gigawatts and serve 5% of the world population.
As we move into Tier II and Tier III sites, we use conventional drilling to start the job and switch to millimeter wave drilling when the conditions get so harsh that these tricks stop working reliably. This approach allows us to maximize the technical capabilities and economic benefits of two symbiotic drilling technologies to unlock the full promise of geothermal energy: Terawatts of reliable, secure, and affordable energy for more than 90% of the world population.