SuperHot Rock (SHR) Engineered (or Enhanced) Geothermal Systems (EGS) is one of the most promising paths to scale clean, firm, cost-competitive geothermal electricity production worldwide, but significant scientific and development uncertainty surrounds these potential high-value resources. In this paper, we discuss the technologies needed to create SHR reservoirs and describe critical gaps where targeted public and private investment can break down roadblocks. Creation and operation of superhot engineered geothermal systems involve risks and opportunities that need to be further evaluated by lab testing and field demonstrations, such as a) well and tool integrity, b) fluid-rock-casing interactions, c) reservoir management and longevity, and d) the possibility of felt or damaging injection-induced seismicity. The technology development and testing needed to plan for, drill to, characterize, and mine heat from SHR include a) numerical models, b) laboratory studies of rock geomechanics, fluid dynamics, and fluid-rock interaction at SHR conditions, c) SHR materials and equipment – drill bits, drill string, proppants, diverters, sealants, instruments, and zonal isolation tools, and d) for SHR EGS reservoir creation, stimulation tools, and methods, tested at wellbore and reservoir scales. The scope of the challenge invites collaboration between geothermal and oil and gas operators, and those with broader expertise in deep, higher-temperature geologic systems, such as economic geologists and metamorphic petrologists, or engineers and laboratories that routinely work in superhot and supercritical conditions.

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