Search for clean energy goes deep into geothermal tech

Singapore's EMA visited plants overseas for insights into latest developments and challenges

- Cheryl Tan

As Singapore's search for clean energy heats up, the authorities here are digging deep, literally, to explore whether underground heat can be harnessed to power the nation.

The Energy Market Authority (EMA) has visited geothermal plants overseas to better understand the latest developments in geothermal energy, as well as the operational challenges for the technologies and regulations required.

The site visits came amid a twoyear islandwide study in Singapore that began in 2024, to determine the potential of geothermal energy in helping the Republic reach netzero emissions by 2050.

This follows a study in July 2023 that found a site close to the Sembawang hot spring that could have temperatures of up to 200 deg C the temperatures needed for power generation - at depths of 4km to 5km.

In Geretsried, Germany, EMA visited a plant being built by Canadian start-up Eavor, which is backed by Singapore investment company Temasek.

The technology used by Eavor is a type of deep geothermal system that harnesses heat from hot dry rocks, found at depths of up to several kilometres underground.

This differs from traditional systems that require shallow underground reservoirs of hot water or geological features that Singapore lacks, EMA noted.

Eavor uses an underground closed-loop system of pipes, which transport water that absorbs natural heat from the earth that is then used to generate electricity at an industrial scale on the surface.