Superhot Rock Geothermal in Chile

The document highlights that just 1% of Chile's superhot rock geothermal resource could provide 1385 GW of energy capacity, potentially meeting the country's projected 2050 electricity demand and replacing all coal and gas imports used for electricity production. It argues that this energy-dense resource would require significantly less land than other energy sources and support Chile's goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

• Preliminary modeling indicates that Chile possesses significant superhot rock resources; specifically, 1% of this resource could provide 1385 GW of energy capacity, generating over 11,528,016 GWh of electricity.
• The energy potential from 1% of Chile's superhot rock resource is estimated to be 131 times the country's 2021 electricity consumption and sufficient to meet its projected 2050 electricity demand of 167,029 GWh.
• Utilizing 1% of the superhot rock potential could theoretically replace all coal and gas used for electricity production in Chile, reducing carbon emissions by approximately 33 megatonnes, which represents 35% of Chile's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) goal.
• Superhot rock geothermal is characterized as an energy-dense resource with low land requirements; producing 1 GW is estimated to require roughly 12 km², which is significantly lower than natural gas (160 km²), solar (180 km²), offshore wind (520 km²), and biomass (14,000 km²).

APA

Clean Air Task Force (n.d.). Superhot Rock Geothermal in Chile. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/22144638/Chile-SHR-Regional-Assessment.pdf

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. Superhot Rock Geothermal in Chile. n.d. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/22144638/Chile-SHR-Regional-Assessment.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=Superhot Rock Geothermal in Chile |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/22144638/Chile-SHR-Regional-Assessment.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cleanairtaskforcendsuperhot, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{Superhot Rock Geothermal in Chile}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/22144638/Chile-SHR-Regional-Assessment.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }