A team of international scientists working at the Krafla Magma Testbed (KMT) in Iceland are exploring how energy extracted directly from magma could be used for next-gen geothermal systems.
Geothermal energy is a largely unexplored renewable resource. With 99.9% of our planet being at a temperature greater than 100°C, scientists are investigating how we unlock this almost unlimited resource of magmatic heat.
While there are geothermal systems that tap into hot water deep underground to generate electricity, scientists have now been wondering whether these systems could make use of magma’s extreme temperature.
In 2009, it was discovered that Krafla, an active volcano in north-east Iceland that last erupted in the mid-1980s, hosts a geothermal system that consists of a highly evolved magma chamber, spanning thousands of years.
While magma is usually located very deep underground, the magma here is surprisingly shallow at only 2.1km depth.
As a result the KMT, the world’s first open access magma research facility, has been set up near the site. Here international scientists are working to understand how the geothermal system operates.
By drilling directly into the magma body, the hope is that it will provide an understanding of how magma behaves underground, which could help forecast the risk of eruptions. It will also help scientists advance geothermal energy systems by exalting how we can potentially release volcano power.
According to a report by the BBC, starting in 2026 the KMT team will begin drilling the first of two boreholes to create a unique underground magma observatory around 1.3 miles under the ground.
Yan Lavallée, a professor of volcanology at Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich and head of KMT’s science committee, told the BBC: “It’s like our moonshot. It’s going to transform a lot of things.”
The second borehole, KMT-II, the drilling of which will begin in 2028, will include a testbed for a new generation of geothermal power stations, which exploit magma’s extreme temperature.
Lavallée said: “Magma are extremely energetic. They are the heat source that power the hydrothermal systems that lead to geothermal energy. Why not go to the source?”
The researchers are now testing various materials for the geomthermal system including high-grade nickel alloys and titanium alloys that can withstand the extreme heat, pressure and corrosive gases.
While the research facility is only forecast to be complete in 2030, scientists are optimistic about the supercharged volcano power that could be brought about as a result.
Rosalind Archer, the dean of Griffith University and former director of the Geothermal Institute in New Zealand, told the BBC that reaching deeper and much hotter heat reserves is the “Holy Grail”.
She said: “I think the whole geothermal world is watching the KMT project. It is potentially quite transformative.”
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