- Hon Shane Jones
Stanford University earth science and engineering expert Professor Roland N Horne will chair the international review panel for New Zealand's pioneering supercritical geothermal exploration project, Resources and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says.
"Professor Horne's credentials in the geothermal engineering world are unparalleled and he brings significant mana to this flagship initiative.
"He will be joined on the international review panel by geologist Dr Omar Friðleifsson and well engineer Kristinn Ingason who both work for the Iceland Deep Drilling Project. The fourth member of the panel is United States geochemist Dr Darrell Gallup.
"We've also appointed a top-tier New Zealand team of technical experts who will design the well, the equipment needs, and the steps to get us to the extreme depths for accessing supercritical geothermal fluids. It's exciting to see such high-powered collaboration for the greater good of energy security, not just for New Zealand but for the world." Mr Jones says.
Mr Jones announced the make-up of the international review panel during his keynote speech to the 2025 Indigenous Geothermal Symposium in Reno, Nevada yesterday.
Drilling into supercritical zones means going 1km-3km deeper into the earth and managing higher pressures and temperatures than current conventional geothermal energy generation.
"This is one of the most technically demanding frontiers in geothermal technology and science. It represents a bold and globally significant step forward in the pursuit of clean, resilient and reliable renewable energy and shows how science, innovation, and partnership with Māori can shape a sustainable energy future," Mr Jones says.
"In November last year, I announced the Government would ring-fence up to $60 million from the Regional Infrastructure Fund for the exploration phase of this project. Last month I announced land within the Rotokawa Geothermal Field in the Taupō Volcanic Zone had been selected as a preferred drilling site for the first well," Mr Jones says.
"The Government has signed a memorandum of understanding with the landowners Tauhara North No.2 Trust and the field operators Mercury NZ, so with our experts coming on board, the project is gaining momentum."
Prof Horne is a New Zealander who has lived in the United States for several decades and is the leading Professor of Earth Science and Engineering at Stanford University.
Prof Horne says New Zealand has the people and the geology to make supercritical geothermal technology happen.
"Although geothermal energy has been a steadily growing energy source worldwide for more than 70 years, new technology and new ideas have opened new doors and led to renewed interest in its global potential.
"New Zealand was at the forefront of the first geothermal revolution in the 1950s and is now well placed to lead the move forward to superhot, supercritical geothermal resources, which are bigger and more efficient," Prof Horne says.
The technical design team for the supercritical geothermal project has now been assembled and comprises experts from Mercury NZ, Contact Energy, Upflow NZ, Geode Well Engineering and Earth Sciences NZ.
Editors' Note:
Roland N Horne is the Thomas Davis Barrow Professor of Earth Sciences and Professor of Energy Science and Engineering at Stanford University, and Director of the Stanford Geothermal Programme. He was the chairman of the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Stanford from 1995 to 2006.
He served on the International Geothermal Association (IGA) Board and was the 2010-2013 President of IGA. He was Technical Programme Chairman of the World Geothermal Congress 2005 in Turkey, 2010 in Bali, Melbourne in 2015, and in Iceland in 2020-2021.
Prof Horne is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering and an Honorary Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. He is also a Fellow of the School of Engineering, University of Tokyo and an Honorary Professor of China University of Petroleum - East China.
*Biography on Stanford University website, and supplied by Prof Horne.
