The World Geothermal Congress 2026 in Calgary was spectacular. That was the only word I could find to post on LinkedIn the day after. Having now had a few weeks to digest the extensive proceedings, of which I could only attend a tiny fraction, here are a few reflections:
- “Over one million hours” – that was the estimated people-hours spent preparing the World Geothermal Congress 2026 provided by Gregor Rumberg in the closing ceremony. Given that the majority of this time is volunteered, this is an incredible demonstration of the passion that is driving this industry forward and the relevance of this congress.
- Diversity is a super power – the attendees, from all corners of the industry and over 80 countries, are incredibly diverse. That so many people of all backgrounds, interests, specialisms, experience levels, and perspectives can come together aligned around a single energy source gives us an enormous resilience. Whatever external geopolitical, market, social or environmental factors change, nothing can stop an industry that is being accelerated by such a diverse and growing group of people.
- Oil industry crossover – it has always been obvious to those of us in the industry that there is substantial crossover of skills and technology from the oil industry, but this conference was well attended by numerous oil and gas industry professionals who are now taking a greater interest than ever before. If only the oil majors would follow their people. We have the supply chain, technology and the skills, and the demand for clean energy is there, we just need more capable companies bringing it all together to finance, develop and operate projects.
- Multi-disciplinary – at the core of the WGC are the technical talks, often given in relatively small rooms on niche topics by academics, building the foundational knowledge that commercial activity can be built upon. The mingling of this group with the commercial, political, financial and communications professionals is great, but I still noticed that group mentality creates siloes of rooms where everyone is there for their niche. I made a point to attend talks and workshops that were outside of my usual areas of focus and would encourage everyone to do the same as we need more people with the big picture awareness to put all of the pieces together.
- Collaboration – the most attractive thing about working in the geothermal industry is the openness between all organisations to collaborate. Most industries are focused on competing for market share, but perhaps due to our combined vision for a better society powered by geothermal, or perhaps because we know that the potential size of this industry is so large that there is more than enough for everyone, this industry welcomes collaboration. I am delighted to have met some new collaborators alongside moving forward projects and ideas with lots of existing collaborators. Nothing beats an in-person event with so many like minded people.
The highlight for me personally was attending and performing at the WING (Women In Geothermal) Battle of the Bands to an engaged and joyful crowd of c. 800 people from across the global industry. I was honoured to win the Boldness to Break Barriers award sponsored by HEPHAE Energy Technology for my performance of the following slam poem, which was partially written that day to incorporate some of my key takeaways from the open plenary’s keynote speeches.
“FROM THE RIFT TO THE GRID”
A Slam Poem for the World Geothermal Congress, Calgary 2026
(Start slow and grounded — let the weight of it build)
We gathered in Iceland in twenty-twenty-one,
when the world was on fire and the ice wasn’t gone,
and we stood on the rim of a caldera, talking shop,
about the heat in the earth and we said: we won’t stop.
So let me tell you what happened in the years in between,
’cause this isn’t the story of a technology unseen,
this is the story of a sector that finally stood up,
that stopped begging at the table and picked up its own cup.
(Build the global picture — keep the rhythm driving)
Because the story isn’t one country, one project, one name,
it’s a planet full of nations playing the same game.
Seventeen-thousand megawatts installed by the end of twenty-five,
thirty-five countries with geothermal plants keeping the lights alive,
Kenya crossed a gigawatt in twenty-twenty-six,
the Rift Valley runs hot and they’re deep in the mix,
ninety percent of their power from renewables now,
and sharing expertise with their neighbours, they show them how.
Indonesia, Turkey, New Zealand, the Philippines,
gigawatts buried under mountains and ravines,
thirty-five countries keeping the baseload burning through the night,
no batteries required, no forecasts, just the earth burning bright.
(Pause. Drop the voice. This is the heart of the poem.)
And then there’s the heat.
Not just the electricity, the heat.
The thing that warms the homes.
The thing that feeds the people.
In Reykjavík, over ninety percent of homes are heated with geothermal energy,
a whole capital city kept warm by the planet’s own chemistry.
Munich is aiming for a hundred percent geothermal by twenty-forty,
the Bavarians looked at their ground and decided it was worthy.
Sinopec grew geothermal heat fifteen percent in a single year,
that’s not a pilot, that’s a nation changing pace, that’s China shifting gear.
More than ninety countries now have some geothermal direct use,
from the greenhouses of Anatolia to the hot springs of Beppu,
it warms the home, it grows the food, it keeps the thermal spas alive,
geothermal is the platform on which everything can thrive.
(Now the money. Bring the energy back up.)
And the capital is moving, finally, actually moving,
Because the data centres woke up, insatiably thirsty for power,
tech execs found their clean energy promises starting to sour,
solar drops at sunset, wind sleeps for weeks,
but geothermal doesn’t care about the weather, it never sleeps.
Fervo raised nearly two billion dollars at its IPO, Nasdaq, FRVO,
fifteen times oversubscribed, the biggest clean energy float the market’s ever shown,
one moment, one ticker, one signal sent around the world,
the flag of geothermal credibility, finally, unfurled.
But Fervo isn’t the story. Fervo is the signal.
The story is the seventeen gigawatts, the original.
The story is Indonesia with twenty-nine gigawatts still untapped.
The story is KenGen teaching its neighbours how geothermal is mapped.
The story is Munich planning to heat a million homes from below.
The story is China warming a billion square metres on the go.
The story is Turkey, private capital, policy, will,
showing every hesitant market what happens when you drill.
The story is the planet.
The story is the heat.
The story was always here, we just needed the world to meet.
(Final verse — slow, deliberate, then build to the finish)
So what do the next five years look like from where I’m standing now?
Sixty gigawatts by fifty, that’s the DOE’s call,
and the trajectory suggests we’ll blow right through that wall.
Enhanced geothermal, superhot rock, and closed-loop start-ups abound,
new technologies are dropping costs and broadening access to the ground.
Lithium from the brine, critical minerals, free,
co-produced alongside power, that’s a new revenue key.
Every oil and gas driller with a rig and a crew right now
could pivot to geothermal, the skills transfer, and know-how,
horizontal drilling, reservoir models, subsurface design,
the playbook is written, people, we just need to draw the line.
And here in Calgary, tar sands, oil sands, where that line gets drawn,
the same roughnecks, the same rigs, the same crews from dusk to dawn,
geothermal doesn’t kill those jobs, it transforms them on the spot,
the transition isn’t coming from outside, it’s everything you’ve got.
(Final slowdown — almost whispered, then the last lines land hard)
When we gathered in Iceland the world was half asleep.
Then in ’23 in Beijing we planted the seed deep.
And now we’re here in Calgary, where the mountains meet the plain,
and the question isn’t whether anymore.
The question is how fast.
The question is how far.
The question is whether we have the nerve to lead,
because the heat has been beneath our feet for four and a half billion years.
Patient.
Constant.
Waiting.
And we hold the key.
From the rift to the grid.
From the Rift Valley to the Rhine.
From the hot springs of Reykjavík to the brine of Salton Sea.
From the deepest dark to the cleanest green.
We.
Are.
Geothermal.
And we are setting the future free.