China Drills Record 5,200m Geothermal Well to Boost Clean Energy

Move over, volcanoes—China just tapped into Earth’s inner heat like never before! The country’s deepest geothermal well, Fushenre-1, officially opened for business this week, reaching a mind-blowing depth of 5,200 meters (that’s taller than 14 Eiffel Towers stacked up! ). Located in tropical Hainan province, this engineering marvel could supercharge renewable energy efforts to hit carbon goals.

Digging Deep for a Greener Future

Engineers hit the jackpot in a 250-million-year-old granite layer, discovering scalding geothermal reservoirs at 188°C —hot enough to brew 10,000 cups of tea per second (not literally, but you get the idea). Sinopec’s chief geologist, Guo Xusheng, called it a ‘game-changer’ for clean energy, highlighting its potential as a stable, low-carbon power source.

How It Works: Science Meets Innovation

After cracking the rock and pumping in cold water , the team successfully extracted heat—a technique that could turn this well into a ‘green battery’ for industries. Before this, China mostly used shallow geothermal projects for heating homes. Now, Fushenre-1 is set to become a global R&D hub for deep geothermal tech!

With nearly 100 million square meters of existing geothermal heating capacity, China’s digging deeper—literally—to lead the renewable energy race.

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China's deepest geothermal well ready for utilization

cgtn.com