The European Geothermal Energy Council is delighted to announce the five endorsed nominations for the Ruggero Bertani European Geothermal Innovation Award 2025. The winner will be announced at GeoTHERM expo & congress, taking place between 20 and 21 February in Offenburg, Germany.
"We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the five exceptional nominees for the Ruggero Bertani European Geothermal Innovation Award 2025. These pioneering projects exemplify the innovation, ingenuity, and commitment needed to drive geothermal energy forward as a cornerstone of sustainable energy systems in Europe and beyond. Each finalist has contributed groundbreaking solutions that highlight the potential of geothermal technology to address pressing global energy challenges." Philippe Dumas, EGEC Secretary-General.
The distinguished finalists, listed in alphabetical order by company, are:
EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG - CASCADE
In general, the technologies required to extract lithium from geothermal brines are available. The process scheme uses Al-based adsorbents in single reactors, but the resulting preliminary product still contains a relevant level of impurities. The overall process also requires considerable amounts of water and energy. The transportation effort should also not be underestimated.
CASCADE is a new process scheme that addresses these points. By using a second reactor with a Ti-/Mn-based adsorbents, the process of water can be recycled, and the energy and transportation effort is significantly reduced. At the same time, the purity of the second pre-product is sufficiently high to produce solid lithium salt on-site using established processes. CASCADE is a patented technology (patent number 102023118 084.3). Compared to standard technologies, it offers considerable improvements in terms of energy and water consumption. The process also allows solid lithium salts to be extracted on-site.
HALLIBURTON - Truesync PMM: Geothermal Electric Submersible Pump (GeoESP) Motor
The TrueSync 738 series hybrid PMM revolutionises electric submersible pump (ESP) technology for geothermal applications, offering a blend of high performance and robust durability. TrueSync's originality lies in its hybrid design, which ingeniously combines elements from traditional induction motor technology to overcome the limitations faced by standard permanent magnet motors.
This innovation extends the operational life of ESP systems and stabilizes their performance in extreme conditions. Additionally, Truesync demonstrates a unique level of flexibility by being compatible with variable speed drives (VSDs) from different suppliers. This adaptability allows it to integrate seamlessly into various existing geothermal operations without the need for specific or proprietary control systems, further enhancing its applicability and originality in the market.
ÍSOR - Iceland GeoSurvey - Flexible Coupling
The novel patented technology of Flexible Couplings has been in development within ÍSOR - Iceland GeoSurvey. Flexible Couplings are designed to mitigate casing failures in production casings of high-temperature geothermal wells, that are caused by constrained thermal expansion. By implementing Flexible Couplings in the production casing, each casing joint (around 12 m) is allowed to expand. Thermal straining of the casing is prevented, and the risk of casing failures is minimized, thereby increasing the reliability of wells. A batch of Flexible Couplings was delivered to ON Power, a subsidiary of Reykjavik Energy, in the fall of 2024 to be used in their next well drilled in Nesjavellir, Iceland, in January-March 2025.
Casings with conventional casing connections have no room for thermal expansion. Therefore, the casing material develops permanent plastic deformations during the first warm-up of the well after being drilled. These permanent deformations can cause severe casing failures, particularly if the well cools down during workover or other reasons, where tensile ruptures can occur. The novel Flexible Couplings allows the casing to expand into the connection without developing permanent plastic strain, allowing the casing material to work within its elastic range.
Mines Paris - PSL University - ORCHYD
ORCHID was an H2020 project funded by the European Commission with the goal of building a prototype drilling tool that showcases an improvement of at least 4X in penetration rate compared to conventional rotary techniques while drilling deep geothermal wells. It was mainly aimed at drilling hard crystalline rocks like granites, usually found in depths beyond 4km.
The originality of the project comes from creating a fully fluid driven down the hole (DTH) system combining two mature rock breaking technologies - percussion drilling and high-pressure water jetting (HPWJ). The DTH mud hammer was upgraded with a HPWJ channel from the downhole intensifier. An intensifier is a downhole tool that channels and pressurizes a part of the fluid flow to deliver jets of more than 150 bars. The HPWJ was used for slotting peripheral grooves, releasing the rock from surrounding stresses, and requiring lower energy to break the rock using percussive action. The insert distribution was carefully chosen to create an optimal rock profile to enhance the rock-breaking efficiency of this combined system.
QHeat - Integration of Heating and Storage Wells to Waste Burning Facility
This project focuses on the use of Coaxial Reversible Medium-Deep Geothermal Heat Wells (MDGHWs) for a waste-to-energy facility in Finland. This innovative geothermal solution provides both heating and cooling for the facility while storing excess thermal energy for later use. Qheat has drilled six geothermal wells to depths of 2,000 meters, enabling the harnessing of stable and abundant geothermal resources. By integrating this technology with waste heat generated by the facility, energy use is optimised, and carbon emissions are significantly reduced, contributing to a sustainable energy ecosystem. While the primary focus is on waste-to-energy, the technology's potential for cooling applications in data centres remains a concept for the future.
This project is original because it combines two innovative approaches: the use of Coaxial Reversible Medium-Deep Geothermal Heat Wells (MDGHWs) for geothermal heat extraction and storage, alongside the integration of waste heat from a biomass plant. The MDGHWs are designed to operate at deeper geothermal depths (1,000-2,000 meters), enhancing thermal extraction efficiency compared to traditional geothermal systems. This integration minimizes fossil fuel use and improves the performance of waste-to-energy systems.
About Ruggero Bertani European Geothermal Innovation Award
The Ruggero Bertani European Geothermal Innovation Award is an initiative developed by EGEC, the European Geothermal Energy Council, in collaboration with Messe Offenburg, organiser of the GeoTHERM congress.
This award is given to companies which have made an outstanding contribution towards the field of geothermal energy in the form of innovative products, scientific research or project initiatives. Endorsed nominations and the award winner are recognised for their outstanding work and impact on a growing and dynamic industry. The award recognises originality, innovation, reliability, reduction of emissions and improvements in energy output, an opportunity for industry peers to acknowledge excellence, and for the most exciting ideas to be widely publicised. Applications are assessed on grounds of originality, innovation, reliability, reduction of emissions, and improvements in energy output.
