On 21-22 January 2026, the Final Review Meeting of the COMPASS project was held in Reykjavik, Iceland. The participating organisations attended the meeting to discuss technical progress, developed tools, financial and administrative review, dissemination and exploitation activities, next steps, and more. To represent Technovative Solutions Limited, Dr Hye Chowdhury, Lead Technologist, and Ebrahim Mohammad Saleh, Software Engineer, attended the meeting. We have recently interviewed Dr Chowdhury about our participation in the event and our role in the project.
Could you please provide a brief summary of the Final Review Meeting?
Dr Chowdhury: The COMPASS Final Review meeting commenced with welcome and opening remarks by the project coordinator, Lilja Tryggvadóttir of Reykjavik Energy. She provided an overview of the project’s technical progress and key results across the work packages. Following the break, leaders of Work Package (WP) 2–6 presented their achievements, covering sustainable well designs and specifications, thermal stress mitigation strategies, laser cladding solutions for casings, and the development of an integrated well design and decision-support system. Each presentation concluded with a discussion and responses to questions from the audience and the European Commission (EC) Project Officer. In the afternoon, participants visited the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant site, where technology verification and validation tests were demonstrated. On the second day, the leaders of WP7 and WP8 presented outcomes related to social, environmental, and economic life cycle assessment, as well as dissemination, exploitation, and outreach activities, followed by a Q&A session. The meeting concluded with the EC Project Officer thanking all partners for their contributions and providing recommendations for the next steps.
What were the key topics presented by TVS?
Dr Chowdhury: We have presented the advancements in three tasks that we are working on.
1. Cost & Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) models of well completion and surface plant (Task 5.5): TVS developed comprehensive cost and LCA models for well completion and surface plant components of high-temperature geothermal systems. Based on these models, integrated Cost and Environmental Impact Estimators were established, incorporating parametric cost models for both well completion and surface plant, a cradle-to-gate LCA framework for well completion, and a cradle-to-grave LCA framework for the surface plant.
2. Financial performance evaluation of COMPASS-enabled geothermal power plant (Task 7.1): TVS evaluated the economic viability of geothermal power plants through detailed financial analyses using key financial indicators, including Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE), Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Payback Period (PBP), and Return on Investment (ROI). Cost performance was assessed for three case studies—an Icelandic representative plant, an Italian representative plant, and a COMPASS-enabled plant configuration. The results demonstrated the capabilities of the Cost Estimator tool to model realistic scenarios, identify primary cost drivers, and support informed decision-making for both existing and future geothermal plants exploiting very hot and superhot geothermal resources.
3. Environmental performance evaluation of COMPASS-enabled geothermal power plant (Task 7.2): TVS conducted cradle-to-grave LCAs to quantify and compare the environmental impacts of COMPASS-enabled geothermal plants with those of Icelandic and Italian representative plants. The findings indicate that the COMPASS-enabled plant using superhot geothermal resources substantially reduces environmental burdens, resulting in significant annual avoided carbon emissions at the regional level. These outcomes highlight the clear environmental benefits and enhanced sustainability potential of the COMPASS approach for next-generation high-temperature geothermal energy systems.
Could you please shed some light on the “Environmental Impact and Cost Estimators for surface plants and well completion tools”?
Dr Chowdhury: To support informed techno-economic and environmental decision-making for geothermal developments, the COMPASS project developed integrated Cost and Environmental Impact Estimators for surface plants and well completion systems.
COMPASS Cost Estimator for Surface Plants:
The COMPASS Cost Estimator for surface plants was developed to evaluate the financial performance of both existing and future geothermal projects. The tool is based on a parametric cost modelling approach aligned with the GETEM methodology, enabling robust estimation of capital expenditures for different plant configurations. The calculated capital and operating costs form the basis for comprehensive financial assessments, including NPV, PBP, IRR, ROI. In addition, the estimator supports sensitivity analyses, allowing users to examine how variations in discount rates, revenue assumptions, and cash-flow changes influence project viability. This functionality enables identification of cost drivers and supports risk-informed investment decisions during project planning and optimisation.
Environmental Impact Estimator for Surface Plants:
The COMPASS Environmental Impact Estimator evaluates the environmental performance of geothermal power plants per functional unit of 1 MWh of electricity generated. The assessment is based on a comprehensive cradle-to-grave LCA framework that covers all major life cycle stages. For each phase, users quantify material and energy consumption using reference flow data derived from representative Icelandic (Hellisheidi) and Italian (Bagnore) geothermal power plants, complemented by site-specific data for the COMPASS-enabled and representative plants. These inputs are then processed through an integrated LCA workflow. The estimator is linked via API to the SimaPro 9.5 LCA software, which incorporates the ecoinvent and other background databases, together with the IMPACT 2002+ v2.15 life cycle impact assessment methodology. This integration enables automated calculation of environmental indicators across multiple impact categories. A dedicated COMPASS Database Management System (DBMS) has been developed that allows users to define process parameters, customise inventories, and manage datasets for different geographical and technological scenarios. This flexibility supports comparative assessments across Icelandic, Italian, and other regional contexts.
Please share the impact that the COMPASS project has had or will have in the near future on the energy sector.
Dr Chowdhury: The COMPASS project strengthens the competitiveness and sustainability of geothermal energy by delivering integrated cost and environmental assessment tools and enabling the exploitation of very hot and superhot geothermal resources. Its parametric cost models and financial estimators improve investment confidence by supporting accurate evaluation of key indicators such as LCOE, NPV, IRR, and PBP, thereby reducing project risk and accelerating deployment. The cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment demonstrates the environmental impacts and lifecycle emissions per MWh, confirming geothermal energy as a low-carbon, reliable baseload energy solution. Overall, COMPASS contributes to a more resilient, cost-effective, and decarbonised energy system by enabling cleaner geothermal power and facilitating informed decision-making for future geothermal developments.
How would you describe the collaboration between partners over the course of the project?
Dr Chowdhury: The COMPASS project fostered a highly effective and coordinated collaboration among its consortium partners, combining complementary expertise from academia, research organisations, and industries. Each partner contributed their specialised knowledge, from geothermal resource assessment, well completion, and surface plant design, to economic modelling, life cycle assessment, and project management. Throughout the project, partners maintained strong communication and knowledge-sharing mechanisms, including regular meetings, workshops, and technical reviews, ensuring alignment of objectives and timely resolution of challenges. Joint development of tools, such as the Cost and Environmental Impact Estimators, benefitted from continuous feedback and cross-validation, leveraging the diverse technical perspectives and regional insights of the partners. This collaborative approach not only enabled the successful delivery of all work packages but also strengthened the overall impact of COMPASS, ensuring that solutions were robust, practical, and adaptable to multiple geographic and technological contexts. The strong synergy among partners was instrumental in achieving project milestones on schedule and maximising both technical and societal benefits.
What are the next steps? If an exploitation plan is in place, could you please elaborate?
Dr Chowdhury: Following the successful completion of the COMPASS project, the focus shifts to translating project outcomes into practical applications, commercial deployment, and wider adoption of the developed tools and methodologies. The next steps include 4 activities.
Technology Transfer and Tool Deployment: The COMPASS Cost and Environmental Impact Estimators for surface plants and well completion systems will be made accessible to project partners, geothermal developers, and stakeholders.
Training and guidance will be provided to ensure the tools are effectively applied in feasibility studies, project design, and environmental assessments of new geothermal projects.
Demonstration and Validation in Commercial Projects: COMPASS-enabled approaches for very hot and superhot geothermal resources will be tested and validated in operational pilot or commercial-scale plants.
Lessons learned from Icelandic and Italian case studies will inform design optimisation and operational best practices in diverse geological and regional contexts.
Exploitation Plan: The project consortium has established a roadmap for exploitation of technical results, including licensing, integration into partner workflows, and potential commercialisation of the Estimator tools.
Intellectual property and knowledge generated within COMPASS will be leveraged to support future geothermal project planning, feasibility studies, and environmental compliance, creating new business and innovation opportunities for partners.
Collaborative dissemination will continue through workshops, publications, and engagement with policymakers, investors, and the broader energy sector to promote adoption of COMPASS-enabled solutions.
Contribution to Energy Transition: By facilitating cost-effective and environmentally sustainable exploitation of superhot geothermal resources, COMPASS supports the scaling of renewable baseload power and contributes to decarbonisation targets at regional, national, and European levels.
The project outcomes will serve as a foundation for further R&D and innovation in next-generation geothermal systems, accelerating the uptake of geothermal energy in the near future.
To know more about the COPMASS Project tools, developed by TVS, click here.
About COMPASS
The COMPASS (Sustainable and Cost-Efficient Concepts Enabling Green Power Production from Supercritical/superhot geothermal wells) is a Horizon Europe project that aims to develop, test and verify improved and innovative drilling and completion technologies to increase the number of economically viable high-temperature geothermal wells, and thereby reduce the environmental impact and cost associated with the provision of geothermal energy.
COMPASS has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 101084623.
