Timeline of Geothermal Energy
Geothermal energy from industrial steam use in 1827 to new commercial drilling projects in 2026, covering district heating, power plants worldwide, reservoir engineering, and the limits encountered underground.
- Category
- Engineering & Technology
- Events
- 17 events 1827 – 2026
- Generated
- by gpt-6
1827: Larderel applies underground steam to chemical production
François Jacques de Larderel developed a method of using natural steam to extract boric acid in Tuscany. Geothermal heat supplied an industrial process directly, making the Larderello area an early center of commercial use long before electricity generation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larderello1892: Boise starts geothermal district heating
Boise, Idaho, began operating a district heating system supplied by natural hot water. Pipes distributed heat to buildings without first converting it into electricity, demonstrating an urban energy network suited to comparatively low-temperature geothermal resources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_heating1904: Larderello demonstrates geothermal electricity
Piero Ginori Conti used steam from the Larderello field in Italy to run a generator and light electric bulbs. The experiment established that underground heat could produce electricity; commercial power generation developed at the site during the following decade.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larderello1930: Reykjavík begins a municipal heating network
Reykjavík started piping geothermal hot water to public buildings and homes. The network expanded over subsequent decades, allowing a locally available heat source to replace coal and oil in much of the city's building heating.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orkuveita_Reykjavíkur1958: Wairakei generates power from a hot-water reservoir
New Zealand opened Wairakei, the first large geothermal station to exploit a wet-steam resource. Separating steam from underground hot water broadened commercial generation beyond the comparatively rare fields that supplied naturally dry steam.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wairakei_Power_Station1960: The Geysers begins American commercial generation
Pacific Gas and Electric began commercial geothermal generation at The Geysers in northern California. Naturally occurring steam drove turbines directly, starting the development of a large field whose operation later depended on managing reservoir pressure and replenishment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Geysers1966: Matsukawa establishes commercial generation in Japan
Japan's Matsukawa geothermal station began operation in Iwate Prefecture. The dry-steam plant brought geothermal electricity into commercial use in a volcanic country, providing experience in drilling, equipment, and operating a domestic underground energy resource.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsukawa_Geothermal_Power_Plant1967: Paratunka tests a binary-cycle power plant
A pilot plant at Paratunka in the Soviet Union used geothermal water to heat a separate, lower-boiling working fluid. The binary cycle demonstrated a way to generate electricity from resources too cool to supply steam directly to conventional geothermal turbines.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_power1973: Cerro Prieto expands geothermal generation in Mexico
The first units at Cerro Prieto began operating near Mexicali, Mexico. The project developed a hot-water geothermal field into a major source of regional electricity, adding experience in drilling and managing a large liquid-dominated reservoir.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_Prieto_Geothermal_Power_Station1976: Svartsengi begins geothermal district heating
Iceland's Svartsengi plant began supplying geothermal hot water to Grindavík in November 1976, and its first turbines followed in 1978, making it Iceland's first combined heat-and-power geothermal plant. Using one resource for both power and building heat connected underground energy production with municipal infrastructure on the Reykjanes Peninsula.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svartsengi_power_station1977: Fenton Hill creates an engineered heat reservoir
Researchers at Fenton Hill, New Mexico, created a reservoir in hot rock by connecting wells through fractures. Subsequent circulation tests extracted heat from rock without a naturally productive hydrothermal system, testing the basis of enhanced geothermal development.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_dry_rock_geothermal_energy1979: Tiwi adds commercial geothermal power in the Philippines
The Tiwi geothermal plant began commercial generation in Albay, Philippines. Development of volcanic geothermal resources offered the country a domestic electricity source and became part of a broader effort to reduce dependence on imported oil.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiwi_Geothermal_Power_Plant1981: Olkaria opens geothermal generation in East Africa
Kenya's Olkaria I station began generating electricity in the Rift Valley. The initial unit established commercial geothermal power in the country and became the starting point for successive plants, wells, and specialized technical capabilities at the field.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olkaria_I_Geothermal_Power_Station2006: Earthquakes halt the Basel drilling experiment
Water injection at a deep geothermal project in Basel, Switzerland, triggered earthquakes felt by residents. Operations stopped and the project was canceled after further assessment, demonstrating that induced seismicity could constrain development even where underground heat was available.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induced_seismicity_in_Basel2008: Soultz connects engineered geothermal power to the grid
A demonstration plant at Soultz-sous-Forêts, France, began generating electricity after a long European research program. Deep wells circulated fluid through stimulated rock, showing how an engineered reservoir could supply a working power plant.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_geothermal_system2023: Fervo brings horizontal-well geothermal power online
Fervo Energy's Project Red in Nevada began supplying electricity to the grid. The commercial pilot combined horizontal drilling and reservoir stimulation, adapting methods developed in oil and gas to extract heat from an engineered geothermal reservoir.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fervo_Energy2026: Cape Station begins commercial power sales
Fervo Energy reported that Cape Station's first generating block in Utah reached commercial operation at the end of September. The company reported 33 megawatts of net output, extending its horizontal-drilling approach from a pilot into a new commercial development.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fervo_Energy