{"id":634437,"date":"2026-07-12T23:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T23:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=634437"},"modified":"2026-07-12T23:15:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T23:15:00","slug":"geothermal-heats-up-fervo-drilling-rates-soar-143-while-quaise-raises-134m-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=634437","title":{"rendered":"Geothermal Heats Up: Fervo Drilling Rates Soar 143% While Quaise Raises $134M"},"content":{"rendered":"

Geothermal Heats Up: Fervo Drilling Rates Soar 143% While Quaise Raises $134M<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

While the Trump administration keeps pushing<\/a> domestic energy addition through funding vehicles<\/a> and executive orders aimed at grid reliability<\/a> and AI-driven demand growth, two next-generation geothermal<\/strong> developers just posted updates that move past announcements and into measurable progress on drilling and capital formation.<\/p>\n

Fervo announced<\/a> that its third-generation well design at Cape Station in Utah has lifted drilling rates by 143%<\/strong> compared with the first Cape well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The latest well, Sawtooth 7, reached 19,448 feet measured depth, including a 7,500-foot lateral, in just 21 days. That\u2019s a 70% reduction in drilling time versus the prior design generation, even as the team targets hotter rock at 460 degrees Fahrenheit and larger casing diameters for higher output per well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Phase I at Cape Station remains on track for first power later this year<\/strong>, with Phase II targeting 400 MW online in 2028. Faster wells directly compress costs and timelines for the kind of repeatable deployment investors have been waiting to see.<\/p>\n

Fervo\u2019s Cape Phase II is tracking toward roughly $5,500\/kW installed, with a longer-term target of $3,000\/kW as the drilling learning curve keeps compounding. That remains well below the Georgia Vogtle nuclear units, which ultimately landed somewhere between $10,000 and $15,000\/kW<\/strong> after years of delays and overruns.<\/p>\n

As we reported<\/a> back in February when the DOE released its $171.5 million Notice of Funding Opportunity for EGS field tests and resource confirmation drilling, the policy environment has turned supportive for technologies that can deliver firm, 24\/7 carbon-free power without weather dependence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Quaise Energy moved in parallel with the initial close<\/a> of a $134 million Series B round<\/strong>, bringing total funding to roughly $230 million. Prelude Ventures led, with strategic participation from JERA and Idemitsu Kosan of Japan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The proceeds target Project Obsidian, the company\u2019s planned first commercial superhot geothermal plant on federal leases in central Oregon near Newberry Volcano. Quaise\u2019s millimeter-wave drilling technology is approaching one kilometer of depth in Texas test wells after penetrating more than 100 meters of granite<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The goal remains first electrons to the grid by 2030 from a facility with long-term gigawatt-scale potential once superhot rock above 300 degrees Celsius is routinely accessed.<\/p>\n

Both moves align with the administration\u2019s emphasis on unleashing American energy dominance and securing reliable power for data centers that cannot tolerate intermittency. Geothermal\u2019s baseload profile makes it a natural complement to the nuclear builds<\/strong> that remain frustratingly slow on actual construction despite regulatory tailwinds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nSun, 07\/12\/2026 – 19:15<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Geothermal Heats Up: Fervo Drilling Rates Soar 143% While Quaise Raises $134M While the Trump administration keeps pushing domestic energy addition through funding vehicles and executive orders aimed at grid reliability and AI-driven demand growth, two next-generation geothermal developers just posted updates that move past announcements and into measurable progress on drilling and capital formation.… Continue reading Geothermal Heats Up: Fervo Drilling Rates Soar 143% While Quaise Raises $134M<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":634432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,19,10,21,12,11,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-634437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cancel-culture","category-censorship","category-civil-liberties","category-election-integrity","category-equal-justice","category-free-speech","category-religious-freedom","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=634437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/634432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=634437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=634437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=634437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}