The idea and the development of Hot Dry Rock  (subsequently called Engineered Geothermal System) started at around 1974 in Los Alamos with the view that it gets hotter as one gets deeper in to the earths crust and that it may be possible to extract this energy and convert it in to electricity. It was also recognised that although hydrothermal systems are economically attractive and relatively easy to develop, they are unlikely to become a global player, as it requires very specific conditions only available on the margins of tectonic plates. The idea of developing EGS has spread to many industrialised countries in the last 30 years recognising it’s potential for being able to deliver both heat and power on a much wider spread of the land mass. 

The most successful project to demonstrate the technology was the European EGS site at Soultz (1990-2005). The project demonstrated that economic target parameters such as the cost of deep well, impedance to flow and a large heat exchange rock volume (to sustain the extraction of the reservoir) could be engineered and successfully demonstrated. This was done in conjunction with international cooperation of scientific and engineers. 

The rising cost of hydrocarbons and the continuing degradation of the climate have made it imperative to find other environmentally friendly energy sources which can deliver power and heat. EGS fits very well in to this scenario but as the ENGINE programme has shown that further research (in an international environment) and groundwork is necessary to bring it to the market place in Europe. The resource, technology and economic aspects covered in the recent study on EGS by MIT (USA) illuminated benefits of the application of EGS and encouraged the industry to take a lead. A number of commercially funded projects have already started in Australia and the USA but Europe seems to be lagging behind except for a few privately funded projects in Germany. A study complimenting the MIT study is necessary for the European scene to highlight prospects for EGS and inform the European Industry of the benefits of investment in this technology.

Vilnius, Lithuania