Geothermal cooling is identified as one of the region’s most promising near-term opportunities, with nearly 14,000 GW of cooling potential estimated, with geothermal desalination and GW scale power production potential also highlighted as major prospects
Project InnerSpace today announced the launch of GeoMap™ Middle East, a groundbreaking geothermal exploration tool that reveals vast geothermal potential in the Gulf region for cooling, long-duration energy storage, and round-the-clock power applications.
Geothermal energy, the heat naturally occurring in the Earth’s crust, is an abundant and ubiquitous source of energy. Advances in drilling and subsurface technologies are making geothermal affordable and scalable in regions once thought inaccessible. In the Middle East, that progress is especially important, since geothermal can deliver the constant, low emissions energy needed to meet rising demand for cooling in some of the world’s hottest, fastest-growing cities.
In the Middle East, geothermal can also complement record-breaking solar investments by providing long-duration energy storage. Importantly, the Middle East is uniquely positioned to scale geothermal quickly, given the region’s decades of drilling expertise and robust oil and gas industry presence, providing the know-how, workforce, and assets needed for rapid deployment.
GeoMap™ evaluates geothermal development potential by integrating millions of subsurface data points into an interactive, freely accessible platform. Initial findings in the Gulf region identify:
- Urban cooling applications: In Gulf states, cooling drives up to 70% of peak electricity demand. Geothermal district cooling could slash that peak, easing grid strain in cities like Riyadh, Dubai, and Doha. GeoMap™ shows ~14,000 GW of cooling potential, with Iran, Egypt, Iraq, and Turkey providing two-thirds of capacity; Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar also hold major opportunities.
- Subsurface storage opportunities: Geological formations across Iraq, Syria, the Gulf states, northern Saudi Arabia, and Yemen could serve as “earth batteries,” storing excess solar and wind energy as heat in deep sedimentary basins and releasing it on demand to balance the growth of intermittent renewables.
- High-potential geothermal zones: The Red Sea Rift (western Saudi Arabia/northern Yemen) holds potential for gigawatt-scale power production and desalination; eastern Turkey and northern Iran also have strong power potential. Both areas hold opportunities for geothermal powered data centers.
“One of the most exciting things about the geothermal development potential in the Gulf region is the fact that the resource sits below some of the world’s most capable and resourced oil and gas companies – the very entities with the required expertise to develop these resources, and the ability to deliver the speed and scale necessary to make geothermal relevant for the world,” said Jamie Beard, Executive Director of Project InnerSpace.
GeoMap™ Middle East builds on previous releases of GeoMap™ in Africa, North America, India, Asia, and Oceania, advancing a global effort to map geothermal opportunities and make next-generation geothermal data freely accessible.
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