Karl?ova district, Bingöl, Turkiye (source: JeotermalHaberler)

With this development, Ignis Energy expands its geothermal portfolio in Turkiye, further trasnsferring the company’s vast experience in the oil and gas industry to the geothermal energy sector to develop and evaluate different technologies for sustainable energy production.

A risk-balanced approach

These new licenses fit well in the context of Ignis’ approach of building up a risk-balanced portfolio of geothermal opportunities. The overall approach provides a wide selection of geothermal development opportunities that all advance on separate timelines.

Ignis approaches each geothermal project with the awareness of evaluating it within the unique structure of the project and its own context. Ignis CEO Richard Calleri said, “We understand the need for an expedient line of sight to production to make projects financially viable,” and underlined their goal to achieve a portfolio that identifies 1GW of renewable energy production capacity by 2030, utilizing mainly traditional technology for exploitation of geothermal resources but also the ability to tap into emerging technologies where this technology fits. Ignis has done selective technology investments with leading providers that allow the company to utilize these as needed.

Ignis has geothermal licenses with a wide range of energy production potential ranging from mainly traditional hydrothermal systems to some opportunities that may require engineered solutions like EGS and Closed Loop designs.

“Overall, our portfolio is aimed to be technology-agnostic and it supports the needed scalability in geothermal by providing the opportunities that these engineered solutions need to prove their abilities,” said Chief Operating Officer Marcus Oesterberg.

Plenty of untapped potential

The push into Turkiye is clear as the country still uses only a small part of its geothermal potential. There is incredible energy potential waiting to be discovered in the East. “We are working to reveal this and turn it into long term value for the Turkish people and the region,” said Country Managing Director Cannur Bozkurt.

The region where Ignis obtained geothermal exploration licenses is important as it falls within the intersection area of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAF) and the East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAF). The region, where intense tectonism is observed, hosts many natural outflows with temperatures ranging between 30 °C and 68 °C, as well as rich geothermal manifestations indicating the existence of a strong geothermal energy source.