Quaise closes a $180M Series B, including $35M from drilling contractor Nabors

Quaise Energy/Millimetre-wave drilling

Quaise Energy closed a $180 million Series B led by Prelude Ventures, including $35 million from drilling contractor Nabors Industries and investment from Japan's JERA and Idemitsu Kosan. Quaise has now raised $280 million in total. The money funds Project Obsidian in Oregon and commercialising its millimetre-wave drilling, which vaporises rock with high-power microwaves instead of grinding it.

• Nabors also provides a dedicated land rig and help with reservoir modelling, well design and drilling strategy.
• Quaise targets wells deeper than 5 km, where rock is hot enough for 'superhot' geothermal that yields far more power per well.
• Conventional drill bits wear out fast in very hot, hard rock; millimetre waves avoid that, but the method is not yet proven at commercial depth.