The Potential for Superhot Rock Energy in the Middle East and North Africa

The document argues that superhot rock energy could provide a ubiquitous, carbon-free, and land-efficient power source for the MENA region, leveraging existing subsurface expertise from the oil and gas industry to overcome technological hurdles.

• Preliminary modeling by the Clean Air Task Force and the University of Twente indicates that superhot rock energy potential exists across up to 50% of the MENA land area, covering more than 2.5 million square kilometers at depths below 12.5 km.
• The resource potential in MENA is vast; just 1% of the region's superhot rock resource could provide 7.2 terawatts of energy capacity, generating nearly 60,000 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity.
• Superhot rock energy could significantly reduce the reliance on fossil fuels for desalination in Saudi Arabia, where desalination currently provides about 70% of drinking water and consumes 6.64 TWh of electricity annually.
• The technology is estimated to be highly land-efficient, requiring approximately 12 km² of land to produce 1 GW of energy, which is substantially lower than natural gas (160 km²), solar (180 km²), offshore wind (520 km²), or biomass (14,000 km²).
• While initial costs for first-of-a-kind projects will be higher, mature 'Nth-of-a-kind' plants could be competitive with conventional power, with global average prices potentially as low as $25-40 (USD) per MWh.

APA

Clean Air Task Force (2024). The Potential for Superhot Rock Energy in the Middle East and North Africa. https://www.catf.us/superhot-rock/heat-mapping/middle-east/

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. The Potential for Superhot Rock Energy in the Middle East and North Africa. 2024. https://www.catf.us/superhot-rock/heat-mapping/middle-east/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=The Potential for Superhot Rock Energy in the Middle East and North Africa |date=21 March 2024 |url=https://www.catf.us/superhot-rock/heat-mapping/middle-east/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cleanairtaskforce2024potential, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{The Potential for Superhot Rock Energy in the Middle East and North Africa}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2024}, month = mar, url = {https://www.catf.us/superhot-rock/heat-mapping/middle-east/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }