As grids come under strain from growing demand from data centers and EVs, geothermal startups have been racing to unlock energy that lurks deep within the Earth. Now, one startup has developed the world’s hottest geothermal well — one that harbors enough energy to power thousands of homes.
Mazama Energy said today that it had drilled a well in Oregon that reached 629˚ F (331˚ C) at the bottom of the borehole. Vinod Khosla, whose firm Khosla Ventures incubated the company, mentioned the milestone on stage today at TechCrunch Disrupt.
“This one site can produce 5 gigawatts of energy,” Khosla said.
The potential at other sites could be even larger. “It’s not tens of megawatts, as usual [with] geothermal wells. You can do gigawatt scale, and frankly, do 100 gigawatts or more — more than AI is projected to use near term, just from super-hot geothermal.”
The company is hoping to eventually drill into even hotter rock, up to 750˚ F (400˚ C), to be able to generate at least 25 megawatts of electricity from one borehole. That would be about two to three times more power per borehole than competitors are generating today.
Geothermal power has existed for decades, but most power plants tap shallow resources that occur where things like hot springs bring heat from the Earth’s mantle closer to the surface. Enhanced geothermal developers drill boreholes that are deeper and access greater and more consistent heat. The technology promises to make geothermal more productive and available in more places.
Because it relies on the Earth’s heat, enhanced geothermal can deliver electricity 24/7. It’s why companies like Google have inked deals to have geothermal power data centers.
Enhanced geothermal has the potential to fulfill significant portions of existing and new energy demand in the U.S. Wells drilled in the Great Basin region centered on Nevada could deliver 10% of current demand in the country, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Tapping deeper rocks could unlock even more power using fewer resources. By injecting water into hotter wells, the amount of energy per borehole can ramp up significantly. Mazama said that it should be able to use 75% less water than current geothermal systems.
“At 450˚ [Celsius], you get 10 times the power per well than you get at 200˚. Guess what? You also get dramatically lower cost, cost competitive — without worrying about carbon emissions — to natural gas,” Khosla said.