Norway just completed the world's deepest geothermal well — a 10-kilometer borehole reaching rock temperatures of 380 degrees Celsius in the Norwegian continental shelf basement, generating supercritical geothermal electricity from Earth's internal heat at depths never previously reached commercially.
The Stavanger Deep Earth Project drilled to 10,000 meters using ultra-hard diamond drill bits and managed pressure techniques adapted from North Sea oil industry expertise. At 10 kilometers depth, granite reaches 380 degrees Celsius — hot enough to produce supercritical steam with 10 times the energy density of conventional geothermal steam, allowing a single well to generate 20 megawatts compared to 2 megawatts from conventional wells. A closed-loop design circulates working fluid without extracting formation water, eliminating any seismic risk that affected earlier deep geothermal projects.
Norway's continental basement rock extends across the entire country, potentially providing 380-degree geothermal access everywhere without requiring volcanic geology. Equinor estimates 45 gigawatts of accessible supercritical capacity in Norway alone.
Source: Equinor Norway, Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, 2025
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