Fervo Energy is a next-generation geothermal company based in Houston, Texas, United States that generates clean electricty by harnessing the Earth's heat through enhanced geothermal systems (EGS). Fervo Energy was co-founded in 2017 by Chief Executive Officer Tim Latimer, a mechanical engineer who worked as a drilling engineer at BHP until 2015, and Chief Technology Officer Dr. Jack Norbeck. Latimer left the oil and gas sector driven by a desire to apply techniques developed during the shale revolution to geothermal extraction, while Norbeck contributed expertise in geothermal engineering and drilling technology.[1][2]
On July 18, 2023, Fervo Energy announced that their first commercial pilot geothermal plant, Project Red, was successful in generating 3 MW (megawatts) of baseload power and consistently maintained flow rates of 60 liters per second (l/s). It is also developing Cape Station, the company's first multi-phase greenfield geothermal development, which is expected to be the world's largest next-generation geothermal project upon completion.
Financing
Fervo Energy has been backed by over $1.5 billion in equity and non-equity funding and approximately $17 million in non-dilutive grants. In the fourth quarter of 2025, Fervo Energy received $462 million of Series E funding, led by B Capital, with participation from returning investors including Breakthrough Energy, Centaurus Capital, and Congruent Ventures, among others.[3] In 2021, Fervo Energy signed a 115 MW power purchase agreement with Alphabet, the parent company of Google, to supply carbon-free baseload electricity for its data centers in Nevada. The agreement was enabled through NV Energy’s Clean Transition Tariff, which was described as the first-of-its-kind rate structure to support carbon-free energy investment.[4][5]
Technology
Shale fracking methodologies were proposed for geothermal use in 2013 by Mark McClure, who became a technical consultant at Fervo Energy and now serves on an external technical advisory board. In 2014, Mclure and co-author Sogo Shiozawa claimed that the combination of horizontal drilling and fracking had the potential to de-risk EGS systems. As long as sufficient heat is available, EGS can produce viable amounts of electrical energy.[6]
EGS has historically struggled to achieve cost-competitiveness with other carbon-neutral electricity sources.[7] One technical challenge is thermal short-circuiting, which can occur in vertical well configurations when injected fluid returns to the production well before absorbing sufficient heat.[8] Moreover, induced fractures at shallower depths often transmit heat more effectively than deeper fractures. This is often due to less normal stress at shallower depth and higher viscosity, while deeper fractures have the opposite effects.[6] These variations can lead to uneven flow pathways and temperature differences within the reservoir, reducing the overall heating efficiency of the produced fluid. Zonal isolation has also posed a challenge for EGS. While modelling induced fracturing can be relatively straightforward, accurately modelling fractures in deeper wells is more complex, sometimes resulting in fractures that are poorly connected to the production well.[6]
Horizontal drilling tackles both issues of thermal short-circuiting and zonal isolation by keeping the producing reservoir at a constant depth. By drilling the injection and production horizontally, all induced fractures are in the same normal stress field and temperature zone and thus have the same viscosity, eliminating the potential of short circuits. To induce optimal fractures, Fervo uses the plug-and-perforation (PnP) method, again adopted from the unconventional oil industry. The PnP system isolates stages to decrease chances of unwanted interactions when the fractures are first initiated.[9][10]
Projects & Developments
Project Red
On July 18th, 2023, Fervo Energy announced the completion of its first geothermal plant in Nevada, confirming production of 24/7 carbon-free enhanced geothermal energy.[11] Known as, Project Red, it marked the world's first use of horizontal wells in an EGS system and was designed to demonstrate the technical and commercial viability of adapting horizontal drilling techniques for geothermal development.[12] The two wells attained a true vertical depth of 8,000 feet, with horizontal laterals extending roughly 3,250 feet. Drilling was conducted in hard metasedimentary and igneous formations, achieving average drilling rates of 70 feet per hour, placing the project in the top quartile for drilling rates in hard rock formations. The geothermal gradient measured approximately 75°C/km. The plant attained flow rates of up to 63 l/s and generated 3.5MW of baseload electricity,[2] roughly adequate to power 2000 households.[13]
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) had predicted the technical aspects of EGS over the years. In 2022 it had forecasted that flow rates of 60 l/s would be attainable under a "moderate case" scenario by 2035.[14] Fervo accomplished this in 2023, albeit at a notably higher levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). Fervo's ongoing efforts are focused on scaling up production and reducing costs.[2]
Cape Station Development
Cape Station construction, August 2025.
On September 25, 2023, Fervo held its groundbreaking ceremony for its Cape Station development outside Milford, Utah. Beaver County has geothermal gradients ranging from 50°C to 500°C/km. However, most boreholes indicated a geothermal gradient between 70°C and 100°C/km.[15] Fervo estimated that the plant has the potential to generate up to 400MW of electrical power by 2028. To increase electrical production and scale the previous design, Fervo proposed multiple horizontal wells stacked upon each other, with each level having its own injection and production well to limit short-circuiting. Lateral well lengths were proposed to be increased to beyond 10,000 feet, with casing diameter widened up to 13 3/8" to decrease wellbore friction.[2][16]
If successful, this project would be the world's largest EGS plant (by energy production), surpassing the Cooper Basin Project in Australia by 8-fold.[17] Fervo claimed that the project would generate over 6,000 jobs during construction, generating $437 million in wages.[2] It was expected to start generating electricity in 2026.[18]
The Corsac Station Enhanced Geothermal Project is a planned project in northern Nevada. The project is supported by a 115MW power purchase agreement (PPA) with NV Energy, with the electricity ultimately serving Google's Nevada data center operations. The agreement was enabled through NV Energy's Clean Transition Tariff, a rate structure developed in partnership with Google and Fervo to facilitate investment in new carbon-free energy sources.[20]
Fervo Energy has also announced the completion of a successful appraisal campaign at Project Blanford in Millard County, which the company has described as having high-temperature resource potential. Fervo has reported subsurface temperatures exceeding 550°F in the area, marking it as a promising project for geothermal development.[21]
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