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Fervo Energy

Enhanced geothermal, horizontal drilling, Cape Station

USpublicest. 2017fervoenergy.com (opens fervoenergy.com)Checked 25 Sep

The brief

Analyst view
  • Cape Station made first power on 24 Sept 2026; ~100 MW Phase I aims for commercial operation from 1 Oct 2026.
  • Project Red in Nevada proved the idea in 2023, sending ~3.5 MW to the grid.
  • Went public on Nasdaq in May 2026; buyers include Southern California Edison and Google.

Technical approach

As reported
Drilling

Sideways wells in hot granite

Pairs of wells go down, then turn sideways for thousands of feet through 200 °C+ rock, using shale-industry rigs and tools.

Stimulation

Cracking the rock open

Water pumped in at high pressure cracks the rock between the wells, creating a big hot surface where none existed.

Circulation

A water loop through the rock

Water goes down one well, heats up in the cracks, comes up the other and drives a turbine, then goes back down.

Monitoring

Fibre-optic sensing

Fibre-optic cables in the wells track temperature, strain and sound to map where cracks grow and water flows.

Programs

Fervo Energy, two programs

Updated 16d ago
Cape StationFervo's first commercial enhanced geothermal plant, next to the DOE FORGE research site in Utah. Phase I is ~100 MW in three blocks; a second phase aims for 500 MW.DeployNextFirst 33 MW GeoBlock in commercial operation · 1 Oct 2026Updated 16d agoView program →Project RedFervo's first pilot near Winnemucca, Nevada, where one pair of sideways wells made ~3.5 MW and proved the EGS idea.DeployUpdated 1 Nov 2023View program →
Research · Proto · Pilot · Deploy · Scaling

Research & demos

2 items

Open technical problems

Open · Active · Partial
  • Will the rock stay hot?Active research

    Water can shortcut through a few cracks and cool the rock unevenly. 20-30 years of steady output isn't proven at scale.

  • Triggered earthquakesPartially solved

    Cracking rock can trigger quakes, as at past projects in Basel and Pohang; it needs careful siting and rules to pause work.

  • Drilling cost in hard, hot rockActive research

    Hot granite wears out drill bits and electronics; the cost per well decides whether enhanced geothermal pays off.

Upcoming catalysts

Company-wide
  • 1 Jan2027Remaining two Phase I GeoBlocks at Cape Station enter commercial operationCape Stationin ~3 mo
  • 2028Cape Station expansion toward 500 MWCape Stationby ~27 mo

Peers

Geothermal · 1

Company & funding

HQ
US
Founded
2017

Partners & customers

2 customers · 2 investors

People

Key people
Primer