Baseload Capital scales up geothermal power to provide baseload renewable energy

“Geothermal energy has been used to generate electricity for over a hundred years, but it has always been a small industry. It has never been scaled up,” explains Alexander Helling, CEO of Baseload Capital. “Our goal is to change that.”

Geothermal energy is natural thermal energy extracted from the Earth. It is considered renewable and, unlike fossil fuel plants, geothermal plants need no heating fuels or boilers. Geothermal energy can be used for heating and cooling, both through direct use and via heat pumps, as well as generating electricity, such as by using steam to drive turbines. Some Nordic regions have become world leaders in the technology: in Iceland, geothermal energy provides 25 per cent of the country’s electricity and 66 per cent of all primary energy.

Need for renewable baseload energy

In 2024, over 90 per cent of global power expansion was renewable. However, most of that additional capacity was wind and solar, which are intermittent sources of energy. Energy storage, such as batteries and power-to-x solutions, is still relatively expensive and undeveloped.

“The world needs baseload energy, something that is reliable and steady and that can handle society’s basic needs 24/7. Wind and solar power are dependent upon variable conditions, whereas geothermal energy provides stable and predictable baseload energy, serving as a great complement to other renewable energy sources,” says Victor Degerlund, Senior Investment Officer at Nefco.

Other options for baseload energy production are problematic. Coal, oil and natural gas are polluting fossil fuels. Nuclear plants can be expensive and controversial. Building new dams for hydropower can result in the displacement of people and damage nature.

“Geothermal energy is unique because it is constant, predictable and clean, and it can be used as baseload,” Degerlund continues. “From the very beginning, Nefco was interested in Baseload Capital’s ambitions to harness the under-utilised potential of geothermal energy and especially the company’s focus on low-temperature geothermal projects. While higher-temperature sources might be more accessible and more commonly utilised, demonstrating the benefits of lower temperature sources is of significant interest and could enable the development of geothermal projects at a wider scale. Since its formation, Baseload Capital has been keenly focused on setting up the frameworks and capabilities needed to manage and develop projects across the globe to unlock the benefits of geothermal energy in the most efficient way possible.”