Energy project finance reference. This educational resource covers project investment and financing concepts. It is separate from Jaken Energy’s commercial electricity and natural gas procurement service; it is not a financing offer or a promise of funding.
Geothermal financing and staged resource confirmation
Utility-scale geothermal generation and ground-source heat pumps for buildings are different projects. A geothermal power plant depends on a usable subsurface resource; a building heat-pump investment depends on the building load and installed system. Do not transfer one project’s economics to the other.
What to evaluate
For generation, separate exploration, test drilling, resource confirmation, development wells and plant construction. Capital committed before confirmation faces different risks from operating-asset debt. Assess resource temperature, flow, chemistry, well decline, reinjection, drilling contingency and the possibility of unsuccessful wells.
Build a defensible comparison
The finance plan should follow technical and permit milestones rather than assume all spending can be funded with long-term debt. Confirm site rights, water and land approvals, grid access and a realistic offtake plan. Show what happens if resource quality is weaker or confirmation takes longer than planned.
Documents and questions to prepare
- Resource evidence and independent technical assessment
- Drilling stages, contingency and replacement wells
- Land, environmental and water approvals
- Milestone-linked funding and revenue assumptions
For commercial property owners
Start with the property’s actual accounts, lease responsibilities and plans for ownership or sale. Keep commodity procurement, building improvements and project investment as separate decisions. Include the costs you retain and the savings you retain after tenant reimbursement. An improvement that lowers a tenant-paid expense may benefit tenants without producing the same increase in owner income.
Prepare a base case and a downside case using dated evidence for costs, revenue and funding. Any financing rate, tax benefit or return is a project assumption until supported by current documents. Legal, tax, engineering and lender review should follow the actual transaction.
For the existing property’s supply-cost decision, use the contract-cost calculator or request a property energy review.
Primary sources
Reviewed October 12, 2026. Program rules, tariffs and financing terms should be checked again before a transaction.