Latest news with #FervoEnergy
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Google's data center energy use doubled in 4 years
No wonder Google is desperate for more power: the company's data centers more than doubled their electricity use in just four years. The eye-popping stat comes from Google's most recent sustainability report, which it released late last week. In 2024, Google data centers used 30.8 million megawatt-hours of electricity. That's up from 14.4 million megawatt-hours in 2020, the earliest year Google broke out data center consumption. Google has pledged to use only carbon-free sources of electricity to power its operations, a task made more challenging by its breakneck pace of data center growth. And the company's electricity woes are almost entirely a data center problem. In 2024, data centers accounted for 95.8% of the entire company's electron budget. The company's ratio of data-center-to-everything-else has been remarkably consistent over the last four years. Though 2020 is the earliest year Google has made data center electricity consumption figures available, it's possible to use that ratio to extrapolate back in time. Some quick math reveals that Google's data centers likely used just over 4 million megawatt-hours of electricity in 2014. That's growth of seven-fold in just a decade. The tech company has already picked most of the low-hanging fruit by improving the efficiency of its data centers. Those efforts have paid off, and the company is frequently lauded for being at the leading edge. But as the company's power usage effectiveness (PUE) has approached the theoretical ideal of 1.0, progress has slowed. Last year, Google's company-wide PUE dropped to 1.09, a 0.01 improvement over 2023 but only 0.02 better than a decade ago. It's clear that Google needs more electricity, and to keep to its carbon-free pledge, the company has been investing heavily in a range of energy sources, including geothermal, both flavors of nuclear power, and renewables. Geothermal shows promise for data center operations. By tapping into the Earth's heat, enhanced geothermal power plants can consistently generate electricity regardless of the weather. And many startups, including Google-backed Fervo Energy, are making it possible to drill profitable wells in more places. On the nuclear fusion side, Google last week announced it would invest in Commonwealth Fusion Systems and buy 200 megawatts of electricity from its forthcoming Arc power plant, scheduled to come online in the early 2030s. In the nuclear fission world, Google has pledged to buy 500 megawatts of electricity from Kairos Power, a small modular reactor startup. The nuclear deals have yet to deliver power — and they won't for five years or more. In the meantime, the company has been on a renewable energy buying spree. In May, the company bought 600 megawatts of solar capacity in South Carolina, and in January, it announced a deal for 700 megawatts of solar in Oklahoma. Google said in 2024 it was working with Intersect Power and TPG Rise Climate to build several gigawatts worth of carbon-free power plants, a $20 billion investment. The outlay isn't surprising given that solar and (to a lesser extent) wind are the only two sources of power that are readily available before the end of the decade. New nuclear power plants take years to permit and build, and even the most optimistic timelines don't see them connecting to the grid or a data center before the end of the decade. Natural gas, which the U.S. has plenty of, is hamstrung by five-plus-year waitlists for new turbines. That leaves renewables paired with battery storage. Google has contracted with enough renewables to match its total consumption, though those sources don't always deliver electrons when and where the company needs them. 'When we announced to the world that we were achieve that 100% annual matching goal, we were very clear that wasn't the end state,' Michael Terrell, Google's head of advanced energy, told reporters last week. 'The end game was 24/7 carbon free energy around the clock everywhere we operate at all times.' Google has some work to do. Worldwide, the company has about 66% of its data center consumption, matched to the hour, powered by carbon-free electricity. But that average papers over some regional challenges. While its Latin American data centers hit 92% last year, its Middle East and Africa facilities are only at 5%. Those hurdles are part of why Google is investing in stable, carbon-free sources like fission and fusion, Terrell said. 'In order for us to eventually reach this goal, we are going to have to have these technologies,' he said. Sign in to access your portfolio
Time Magazine
6 days ago
- Business
- Time Magazine
TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2025: Fervo Energy
'It's very clear we need a lot of electricity, and we need it now,' says Fervo Energy CEO and cofounder Tim Latimer, citing the rise of AI, data centers, and electric vehicles. Fervo plans to help meet rising demand by combining fracking and geothermal technologies. Its geothermal systems pump water deep into the earth to generate 24/7 renewable electricity, unlike intermittent wind turbines and solar arrays. The Houston-based startup's innovative technology drills not only vertically but horizontally, too, so it can access more heat. Founded eight years ago, Fervo partnered with Google on a 3.5-megawatt commercial project in Nevada, which opened in 2023—'the first time anyone ever proved that enhanced geothermal systems are commercially ready today,' Latimer says. Now Fervo is building the 500-MW Cape Station project in Utah, which will provide power to utility Southern California Edison as part of the world's largest-ever geothermal power purchasing agreement.
Newsweek
21-06-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
Fervo Uses Oil Drilling Technology to Dig Deep for Clean Geothermal Energy
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The U.S. oil and gas industry sparked an energy revolution a few decades ago by thinking in a different direction—literally. Horizontal drilling, combined with hydraulic fracturing, unlocked new petroleum reserves and quickly propelled the U.S. to global leadership in oil and gas. Fervo Energy, a company headquartered in oil capital Houston, is aiming for a similar revolution in geothermal energy by borrowing a page from the oil industry's playbook. "Drilling is drilling," Fervo's Vice President of Strategy Sarah Jewett told Newsweek. "That is kind of the 'aha' moment that our founders really found when they started this business." By using drilling technology advanced by the oil and gas industry, Fervo is drilling deeper, drilling sideways and drilling in new places to unlock new reserves of heat energy. A member of Fervo Energy's drilling rig crew climbs to the top of the rig in Utah. A Fervo well recently reached a depth of more than 15,000 feet, where rock is greater than 500... A member of Fervo Energy's drilling rig crew climbs to the top of the rig in Utah. A Fervo well recently reached a depth of more than 15,000 feet, where rock is greater than 500 degrees Fahrenheit. More Courtesy of Fervo Energy "There's no reason why geothermal energy wells should be using older, more outdated rigs," Jewett said. Traditional geothermal energy relies on finding steam-bearing resources and drilling into them vertically to capture the steam heat. It requires not only hot rock but also enough permeability in the rock to allow water and heat to come together. That made geothermal power geographically limited to those places with just the right combination of factors. Fervo is developing an enhanced geothermal system (EGS) that creates some of those conditions by making rock permeable and injecting liquid where hot rock is available. Instead of just drilling vertical wells, the company uses horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques to harvest naturally occurring heat. "We are just using the heat from rock under the earth rather than steam directly to create electricity," Jewett explained. The U.S. Department of Energy calls EGS "the next frontier" for renewable energy. Because the technology can tap a much wider range of geothermal resources, the DOE estimates that EGS has the potential to power more than 65 million American homes and businesses. "Really, hot rock is everywhere," Jewett said. "It's just a question of how deep that rock exists and how economic is it to actually get to [that] depth." Rock that reaches 400 to 500 degrees Fahrenheit is, generally speaking, closer to the surface in the western U.S. than in the eastern states. Fervo is focusing efforts in southwestern Utah, site of the company's Cape Station development where the company is building three power plants. Fervo Energy is building three power plants as part of its Cape Station development in southwestern Utah. The first is scheduled to come online in the summer of 2026. Fervo Energy is building three power plants as part of its Cape Station development in southwestern Utah. The first is scheduled to come online in the summer of 2026. Courtesy of Fervo Energy Jewett said Fervo's first power plant is scheduled to come online next summer with the first phase delivering 100 megawatts of clean power. An additional 400 megawatts of capacity is scheduled at the same site by 2028, and power purchasers include Shell Energy and Southern California Edison. Last week the company announced that a new round of funding for the Cape Station development had secured $206 million from investors including Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, founded by Bill Gates. In another announcement last week, Fervo shared results from one of its exploration wells that pushed the boundaries of geothermal technology. The company's deepest well yet reached more than 15,750 feet, nearly 3 miles beneath the surface. Rock temperature at that depth is greater than 500 degrees, Jewett said, and the company is testing what happens to drill bits, casings and electronics at very high heat. "One of our paths to innovation we call 'boring is beautiful,'" she said. As wells reach greater depth and higher heat, companies providing parts and services test the performance of drilling equipment under increasingly harsh conditions. "That has been a really virtuous cycle of innovation between us and our partners." In another parallel with the oil and gas industry, Fervo had the petroleum consulting company DeGolyer & MacNaughton conduct an independent energy reserve estimate for the Cape Station project. Such reserve estimates are common when oil companies develop a new resource, but the practice is new for the geothermal industry, Jewett said. DeGolyer and MacNaughton applied similar principles from oil analyses to evaluate the thermal energy potential at the site and concluded that Fervo's site could yield 5 gigawatts of power. A gigawatt is enough to power a city of 750,000 homes. With those positive developments on the technical and financial fronts, Fervo is clearly on a hot streak. But like the rest of the clean energy sector, the company is also closely watching policy developments in Washington. Tax credits from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act were a boon for new clean energy technology developers, not only because of the size of the credits but because the 10-year lifespan of the credits provided long-term stability to attract private investors. The "one big beautiful" bill approved by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives late last month would end most of those clean energy credits and debate is underway on a Senate version. "We're fighting pretty hard to preserve tax credits because for these very early projects, it's incredibly useful to have that that support," Jewett said. Fervo's first phase of development would not be affected by the changes, she said, because construction is already underway, but future projects could become more challenging. Regardless of policy changes, however, she said she is confident that EGS power will find a market as a steady source of electricity to meet surging demand. "Geothermal energy projects are capable of providing that 'always on' power," she said. "And I think that's why it's become so attractive."
CNA
12-06-2025
- Business
- CNA
Meta signs deal for advanced geothermal power in New Mexico
NEW YORK :Meta signed an agreement with XGS Energy to help develop 150 megawatts of advanced geothermal electricity in New Mexico to power the Facebook parent company's artificial intelligence expansion, the companies said on Thursday. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Giant technology companies like Meta are striking unprecedented power deals to secure massive amounts of electricity for the data centers needed to develop AI, which is a top driver of the record U.S. power consumption projected for 2025 and 2026. Geothermal energy, which does not produce climate-warming carbon emissions, has become a popular source of electricity for Big Tech companies, many of which have emissions reduction goals. Unlike conventional geothermal power production, advanced geothermal does not rely on natural water sources. Last year, Google announced plans to fuel its data centers with advanced geothermal power produced by Fervo Energy. CONTEXT While 150 megawatts is a tiny fraction of the many gigawatts of power sought by technology companies to power AI, it would represent about 4 per cent of total U.S. geothermal production. New Mexico, which lays claim to a section of the world's largest shale oil basin, has 160,000 megawatts of untapped geothermal power generation potential. The phased-in project between XGS and Meta is projected to be operational by the end of the decade. The advanced geothermal electricity will be deployed to the electric grid and support Meta's operations in the state. KEY QUOTE 'With next-generation geothermal technologies like XGS ready for scale, geothermal can be a major player in supporting the advancement of technologies like AI as well as domestic data center development," Urvi Parekh, Global Head of Energy at Meta said in a written statement.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fervo Energy lands $206M in financing to build massive geothermal power plant
Geothermal frontrunner Fervo Energy said Wednesday that it had secured $206 million in financing to continue work on a new power plant in Utah. The startup is developing what promises to be the largest enhanced geothermal power plant in the world. The initial phase of Cape Station is expected to come online next year and produce 100 megawatts of electricity, and a subsequent expansion set to open in 2028 will add another 400 megawatts. Enhanced geothermal, which runs deeper and hotter than traditional geothermal, has become a favored technology in the quest to find new power sources for AI data centers. By tapping the Earth's heat, geothermal promises to provide 24/7 power without emissions. It doesn't hurt that it relies on skills pioneered by the oil and gas industry, something that likely helps its standing within the Trump administration. The news comes the day after Fervo announced that it had completed its hottest and deepest well to date. The company said it drilled down 15,765 feet in 16 days, and the temperature at the bottom of the well is expected to stabilize at around 520°F. Drilling time represents a large share of geothermal power plant costs, which is why startups have been racing to see who can drill deeper and faster. Fervo's results have unlocked a new spigot of cash. The financing announced today includes $100 million in project-level preferred equity from Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, the project finance arm of Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy group. Mercuria, which had previously provided a $120 million loan, provided another $60 million to that facility. And an X-Caliber Rural Capital affiliate contributed $45.6 million in bridge debt financing. The startup has been on a fundraising tear lately. Fervo raised $244 million in February 2024 and another $255 million in December that was split between equity and debt. Energy secretary Chris Wright was at the helm of Liberty Energy when the company invested in Fervo in 2022. The increasing amounts of debt are a sign that investors feel that enhanced geothermal has passed through the commercial valley of death and is ready for widespread commercial adoption. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
