"Walking" anchor and plasma drill promise cheap, deep geothermal power

The intense heat under the Earth's surface represents a virtually inexhaustible source of reliable clean energy that would be available 24/7 from anywhere on Earth – you could pull it up as steam to run generator turbines, or pipe it directly into district heating systems.

That's if we could get to it. Earth's most easily accessible geothermal energy is located wherever it's closest to the surface – typically, geologically unstable areas near volcanos and lots of seismic activity, representing only about 3% of the Earth's surface. Otherwise, you can't get to that heat without drilling down through mile upon mile of super-hard rock.

The temperatures and pressures involved in super-deep drilling tend to destroy even the highest-quality drill bits in short order. Changing a bit out means you have to haul the drill head back up from miles underground, put a new one on, then get it right back down the bore before you can start again. This process wastes a lot of time, and time is money when you're hiring these kinds of rigs.

As a result, geothermal energy really only makes a significant contribution to the power grid in places like Iceland, El Salvador, New Zealand and other areas where it's available at shallower depths. Globally, geothermal contributes less than 100 GWh annually to the 166.7 million-odd GWh global energy supply.

Slovakian company GA Drilling was formerly known as Geothermal Anywhere – and that's a perfect encapsulation of the company's goal: to make geothermal heat much cheaper, quicker and easier to access wherever it's needed.

GA has developed two key technologies that work in with existing drilling infrastructure and equipment. The first is a walking anchor system it calls Anchorbit.

The Anchorbit system places two collar sections behind the drill bit, each with extendable pistons capable of pushing out and gripping onto the bore shaft. When the upper collar grips the bore, the lower one extends downward closer to the drill bit, and then it pops out its gripping pistons to allow the upper collar to let go, and slide down to meet it. The process is illustrated in this video:

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