By Mugwe Manga;
Geothermal, the least spoken about member of the renewable energy family, is finally gaining recognition…and for good reason.
As the world focuses on ambitious energy transition plans, a simultaneous and often overlooked phenomenon is occurring: the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as both a mega consumer of electricity and an enabler of geothermal power development.
As AI capability grows we can expect the ‘GeoTech’ revolution – the intersection between geothermal energy and technology to be more effective.
Take for example Nvidia, a company few had heard of five years ago, now boasts a market capitalisation larger than the entire London Stock Exchange (LSE)! Why? Nvidia is a leading manufacturer of AI-enabling chips, and surging demand from tech companies has sent orders skyrocketing.
Combined, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Tesla are projected to allocate close to $280 billion toward artificial intelligence development in 2025, a significant increase from $80 billion just five years ago.
China spends more importing semi-conductor chips than crude oil in order to drive their digital economies.
The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) recent report, The Future of Geothermal, released in December 2024, succinctly states: there is no AI without electricity. For example, Microsoft now consumes more power in its data centres than the entire country of Slovenia, with demand growing at over 30% annually.
As nations and companies strive to meet Net Zero goals, ensuring a constant, robust supply of green energy is more critical than ever. This is where geothermal energy a 24/7, baseload and dispatchable source of renewable power steps in.
Geothermal energy harnesses heat from the Earth’s interior, where hot rocks and water combine to create steam deep underground. This steam drives turbines to generate electricity once tapped into via drilling.
Countries such as Iceland, Philippines, Indonesia, the United States, Turkey, Italy, and Kenya have all developed significant geothermal capacity due to favourable tectonic and hydrothermal conditions.
In Kenya, a country with one of the worlds fastest growing geothermal development rates, has an energy grid that is 45% geothermal. The country recently joined the exclusive “1GW Club” of geothermal producers.
This milestone coincides with the exciting intersection of AI and geothermal technology, as AI plays a transformative role in geothermal exploration and development.
Innovations such as Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) and Advanced Geothermal Systems (AGS), bolstered by AI-driven modelling, are enabling more precise drilling and reservoir management. These advancements, adapted from the oil and gas sector, have the potential to significantly lower upfront capital costs and improve efficiency, reducing risks and unlocking greater return. It is projected that with using next generation geothermal technologies we could increase geothermal production ten fold.
This could boost the geothermal potential of Kenya for example from 15GW to 150GW!
The evolution of geothermal energy is no longer limited to resource-dependent systems (those relying on natural reservoirs). Companies like Fervo Energy and Eavor (pronounced “Ever”) a BP and Chevron backed GeoTech company are pioneering resource-independent systems, at depths exceeding 7,000 meters that promise to make next generation geothermal affordable and ubiquitous, bring electricity and direct heating to many more countries.
The Author – The Energy Future Of Africa and Board Advisor
