Geothermal Rising names inaugural Tech Awards winners

Geothermal Rising announced the first winners of its Tech Awards at the 50th Geothermal Rising Conference in Houston, spotlighting technologies aimed at lowering costs, reducing risk and expanding geothermal deployment. The new program recognizes tools and systems across drilling, reservoir development, efficiency and scalability.

Why it matters: - The inaugural Tech Awards are designed to spotlight technologies that can make geothermal development cheaper, faster and easier to scale. - The awards come as geothermal operators look for ways to reduce drilling risk, improve reservoir performance and expand into new markets. - The winning technologies reflect where the industry is trying to move next: from subsurface exploration to power generation.

What happened: - Geothermal Rising announced the inaugural winners of the Geothermal Rising Tech Awards on September 23, 2026. - The awards were presented during the 50th Geothermal Rising Conference in Houston. - Winners will be recognized during the Honors and Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, September 22. - Geothermal Rising said the awards recognize innovators whose technologies can improve geothermal development, reduce costs and risks, increase efficiency and unlock new opportunities across the industry.

The details: - The new program is intended to highlight emerging technologies and the people behind them. - Award recipients were selected using five criteria: Commerciality (30%), Technical Novelty (30%), Technology Readiness Level, or TRL, (20%), ESG (15%) and Industry Support/Presentation (5%). - This year’s winners are 400 C Energy for Calidus Multistage Hydraulic Fracturing, Baker Hughes for Vulcanix Geothermal Drill Bit Solution, Enegis for Permeable Fracture Imaging, Exergy for Radial Outflow Gemini Tube and Geothermal Radar for Interactive Geothermal Maps. - The winning technologies span drilling, imaging, reservoir development and mapping.

Between the lines: - The launch of a dedicated tech awards program signals that geothermal is moving beyond broad advocacy and into a more competitive innovation market. - The selection criteria favor both technical promise and practical readiness, which suggests Geothermal Rising wants to reward tools that can be adopted, not just admired. - Jericho Reyes, president of the board at Geothermal Rising, said the geothermal industry is entering an exciting period of technological advancement and that the awards are meant to recognize the companies, researchers and innovators helping the industry move forward.

What's next: - Geothermal Rising is positioning the Tech Awards as an ongoing program to identify and celebrate emerging geothermal technologies. - The organization says advances in geothermal technology can help reduce development risk, improve project economics and expand deployment in new markets. - Geothermal Rising will continue using its annual conference and awards platform to bring attention to research, technologies, best practices and market developments.

The bottom line: - Geothermal Rising is betting that better tools and faster commercialization will be key to geothermal’s next phase of growth. - More information