On the heels of the successful completion of its grid-tied geothermal power plant in Nevada, Fervo Energy is raising an additional $221 million.
The Houston-based company is one of several upgraded geothermal startups that are racing to harness heat deep in the Earth's crust. Previous geothermal plants have only scratched the surface by accessing hot springs or shallower rock formations.
boil uses directional drilling techniques pioneered in the oil and gas industry to extend its wells far beyond its surface footprint. No wonder: the company's executive team is packed with industry veterans.
Once those wells are drilled, Fervo connects them with fiber optic cables connected to a variety of sensors. Those sensors then send data to equipment on the surface, which uses it to map subsurface heat patterns and monitor the performance of each well.
The startup has achieved a series of successes lately. He reported that he had completed a horizontal well on a project in Utah in 21 days, a 70% reduction from the first well the company drilled in 2022, while cutting the cost in half. At $21 million per well, it's still not cheap, but the pace of progress is above the Department of Energy's expectations, Fervo said.
He also received a $25 million grant of the Department of Energy. It last raised a $138 million Series C in July 2022 at a valuation of $308 million, according to data from PitchBook. Previous investors include BHP Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Congruent Ventures, DCVC and Prelude Ventures. Early angel investors include Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Bill Gates and Masayoshi Son.
In November, Fervo connected 3,5 megawatts from its Red Project to the Nevada grid, the first of its kind. Electrons from the facility will power Google's data centers in the state and, unlike many other renewable sources, will do so 24/7 as a so-called firm energy source, with no need for battery.
Geothermal has the potential to provide up to 90 gigawatts of electricity annually in the US by 2050, according to the Department of Energy. Proponents have touted the technology not only as a way to provide carbon-free energy to the grid, but also as a way to employ oil and gas workers as demand for oil declines.
Given the high cost of geothermal drilling, which has to deal with harder rocks than those encountered by oil and gas platforms, Fervo is likely to use its new revenue to continue drilling more wells to improve its speed and reduce costs.
