Due to their pilot and demonstration character, Swiss deep geothermal power plants cannot currently be operated economically without federal subsidies. This is because the projects are individual developments and because Switzerland does not have its own drilling companies that can carry out the necessary drilling. Accordingly, all services have to be purchased abroad at high cost. However, commercial plants are already in operation in the nearby Upper Rhine Valley north of Basel (Alsace, Baden).

Once the technology has been established, savings of around 75 per cent are expected, in particular due to the reduction in the cost of drilling and constructing the reservoirs. Both the Swiss Federal Office of Energy and the Foundation for Technology Assessment (TA Swiss) assume that deep geothermal electricity generation costs will be correspondingly attractive in the future.

Due to the great theoretical potential of deep geothermal energy and the attractive future production costs, deep geothermal energy is currently being financially supported as part of national funding programmes under Energy Strategy 2050.