Google-Backed Fervo Energy Hits Milestone with Utah Geothermal Plant

Google's investment in geothermal energy is starting to bear fruit as Fervo Energy, an enhanced geothermal systems provider backed by Google, has achieved first power at its Cape Station power plant in Beaver County, Utah. The first of three 33 MW GeoBlocks has begun supplying electricity to the grid and is expected to reach commercial operation next week.

Fervo aims to have 100 MW online by New Year's Day and half a gigawatt by 2028. The Cape Station power plant has the potential to eventually scale to more than four gigawatts of capacity, with Fervo working toward fulfilling 900 MW of contracted capacity.

The company borrowed technologies originally developed by the oil and gas industry to overcome the challenge of getting water deep enough into the Earth's crust. Two parallel wells are dug to around 8,000 feet below the surface, and the rock is then fractured to allow water to pass between the two, heating the water to 190 degrees Celsius in the process.

Google has been an early proponent of geothermal power generation, having agreed to buy power from Fervo's Cape Station as well as Ormat Technologies' competing geothermal operations. The company sees geothermal energy as a promising solution for its datacenter expansion, which is constrained by grid limitations.