Geothermal energy, the heat stored beneath the Earth’s surface, has long been recognized as one of the most abundant clean energy resources. Unlike solar or wind, which depend on weather conditions, geothermal energy is available around the clock and can deliver stable, baseload electricity. It is considered renewable because the Earth continuously produces heat, primarily through natural radioactive decay deep underground.

Countries like Iceland, Kenya, and Indonesia have demonstrated its transformative potential for electricity generation and heating. According to International Energy Agency (IEA) geothermal could meet up to 15% of global electricity demand by 2050 (with continued technology improvements and reductions in project costs). This would mean the cost-effective deployment of as much as 800 GW of geothermal power capacity worldwide, producing almost 6,000 terawatt-hours per year, equivalent to the electricity demand today of the United States and India combined.

Producing Energy by Vaporizing Rocks

One of the main barriers to scaling geothermal energy has been access. The most powerful resources, superhot rock found two to twelve miles below the surface, remain beyond the economic and technical reach of conventional oil and gas drills, which fail under extreme heat and pressure.

Quaise Energy, a US-based startup, is working to change that. The company is applying millimeter-wave drilling, a method adapted from nuclear fusion research. Instead of grinding through rock with steel drill bits, Quaise uses powerful microwave beams generated by a device called a gyrotron. These beams vaporize rock, enabling boreholes to reach unprecedented depths.

The idea first began in 2008 when MIT engineer Paul Woskov had a bold idea for millimeter waves (MMWs) to unlock the true potential of geothermal energy. Woskov worked with gyrotrons, devices that produces high-power MMWs for extreme heating.

Gyrotrons have been used to reach temperatures far hotter than the sun to study fusion energy. But Woskov envisioned a new application for the gyrotron: making deep geothermal energy accessible by vaporizing rock.

Earth’s crust generally has a looser and softer layer near the surface, known as sedimentary rock. Modern technology is well-adapted and economical for drilling through the sedimentary layer, optimized by the oil and gas industry. Fossil fuels, some critical minerals, water, and lower-temperature geothermal energy are all extracted from the sedimentary layer.

But beneath sedimentary rock lies the tough, crystalline basement rock. Temperatures and pressures are higher there, and the rock is more ductile than brittle. Mechanical drill bits wear down quickly and are expensive to use in basement rock, requiring frequent, costly trips to the surface for replacement.

After more than a decade of experiments, Woskov concluded that MMWs have the unique potential to make deep geothermal energy cost-effective and available almost anywhere on Earth. Deep geothermal is up to 10x more powerful than traditional geothermal energy and exponentially more accessible by drilling with MMWs.

Around 2018, Quaise Energy adopted Woskov study and scaled up his experiment for real-life application.

“Our product is not a drill, it is clean, infinite heat,” said Carlos Araque, CEO and President of Quaise Energy. “The Earth contains more thermal energy than all fossil fuels, nuclear, and other renewables combined.”

This technology does not require building new drilling rigs. Instead, it can be added onto existing oil and gas rigs, making the transition faster and more cost-effective. The company uses conventional rotary drilling to get to basement rock. Then, it switches to high-power millimeter waves to reach unprecedented depths.

If successful, Quaise Energy could unlock geothermal power anywhere in the world, making it a scalable alternative to fossil fuels. The company’s roadmap includes pilot geothermal wells reaching temperatures of 500°C by 2026, and its first superhot geothermal power plant by 2028.

Quaise Energy started in September a live demo at a field site in Central Texas where it drilled 100 meters in hard rock using Millimeter Waves and will continue until November 20.

Abu Gharadig Basin: A Hidden Geothermal Asset

While Quaise works to prove its concept globally, regions like Egypt’s Abu Gharadig basin in the Western Desert present a promising case for applying geothermal energy.

Previous geothermal assessments in Egypt focused mainly on volcanic or surface hydrothermal zones, not deep sedimentary basins.

The Abu Gharadig Basin (AGB) has drawn attention of Ahmed Elmasry, a researcher at Egypt Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt for its geothermal potential. “This basin already has deep, data-rich oil and gas infrastructure but had never been evaluated systematically for geothermal use,” he said.

Elmasry and his research colleagues conducted a study to analyze the reservoir of ABG basin to study its geothermal presence. “The area contains thick sedimentary successions (especially the Kharita Formation) with measured bottom-hole temperatures exceeding 150 °C in some wells, temperatures high enough for binary-cycle power generation or direct-heat applications,” he told Egypt Oil and Gas.

The team integrated geochemical, isotopic and thermal data analysis of groundwater samples from seven wells reaching 3,000–3,500 meters depth utilizing Monte Carlo simulations. They found that the basin could generate about 14.3 megawatts (MW) of electricity over 25 years, enough to power 14,000 homes, or support direct uses such as greenhouse heating, aquaculture, and medical spas.

What makes the AGB especially suitable is its existing oil and gas infrastructure. Abandoned or mature wells could be repurposed for geothermal extraction which mirrors Quaise’s own strategy of adapting fossil-fuel drilling rigs and power plants for geothermal use.

Elmasry who is also a Geotechnical Engineer & Data Geoscientist at Concord for Engineering and Contracting Company explained that Egypt’s energy strategy is expanding renewables but still depends heavily on fossil fuels. “By targeting Abu Gharadig, a mature hydrocarbon basin with existing wells, pipelines, and power links, the goal was to demonstrate a low-cost pathway to repurpose petroleum fields for geothermal production. This approach reduces exploration risk and capital cost while contributing to energy diversification and emission reduction targets,”