Fervo raises USD 138m for geothermal power plants construction

US geothermal projects developer Fervo Energy announced on Monday it has raised USD 138 million (EUR 138m) in a funding round led by investment firm DCVC that will support the build-out of geothermal power plants.

Fervo says it has adapted innovations from the oil and gas industry, including horizontal drilling and distributed fibre optic sensing, for use in the development of geothermal projects. The fresh capital will enable the completion of plants in both Nevada and Utah, and the evaluation of new projects in California, Idaho, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, and internationally.

Chief executive Tim Latimer stated that the new investment will allow the firm to execute on its ambitious plans to meet the growing demand for reliable energy sources by connecting gigawatts of geothermal energy capacity to the grid.

In the spring of 2021, Fervo and Google inked the the world’s first corporate agreement to develop a next-generation geothermal power project. A year later, the company also entered into a 40-MW geothermal power purchase agreement (PPA) with East Bay Community Energy (EBCE), a California community choice aggregator.

In addition to DCVC, Fervo was also backed by new investors such as Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), Liberty Energy, Macquarie, Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, Impact Science Ventures and Prelude Ventures, as well as existing investors Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Congruent Ventures, 3X5 Partners, Helmerich & Payne and Elemental Excelerator.

According to the announcement, CPP Investments alone committed USD 20 million to the financing round.

(USD 1 = EUR 1.000)

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