Khosla-backed Mazama taps super-hot rocks in race to deliver 24/7 power

As grids come under pressure from growing demand from data centers and EVs, geothermal startups are racing to unlock the energy hidden deep within the earth. Now, a startup has built the world’s hottest geothermal well — one that harbors enough energy to power thousands of homes.

Mazama Energy Today said it drilled a well in Oregon that reached 629˚ F (331˚ C) at the bottom of the borehole. Vinod Khosla, whose firm Khosla Ventures incubated the company, mentioned the milestone on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt today.

“This one site can generate 5 GW of power,” Khosla said.

Other sites may have greater potential. “It is not the usual ten megawatts [with] Geothermal wells you can scale to gigawatts, and frankly, 100 gigawatts or more—more than AI from super-hot geothermal is projected to use in the near term.”

The company hopes to eventually drill into hotter rock, up to 750˚ F (400˚ C), to be able to generate at least 25 megawatts of electricity from a single borehole. That would be about two to three times more power per borehole than competitors are generating today.

Geothermal energy has existed for decades, but most power plants tap shallow resources that occur where things like hot springs bring heat from the Earth’s mantle near the surface. Advanced geothermal developers drill boreholes that are deeper and access more and more consistent heat. The technology promises to make geothermal more productive and available in more places.

Because it relies on the earth’s heat, advanced geothermal can provide electricity 24/7. Why is this company? like google Signed contract for geothermal power data center.

Enhanced geothermal drilling in the Great Basin region centered on Nevada has the potential to meet a significant portion of the existing and new energy demand in the US wells that could supply 10% of the nation’s current demand. According to US Geological Survey.

Tapping deeper rocks can unlock more power using less resources. By injecting water into heated wells, the amount of energy per borehole can be significantly increased. Mazama said it should be able to use 75% less water than current geothermal systems.

“At 450˚ [Celsius]You get 10 times the power per well than you would at 200˚. Guess what? You also get dramatically lower costs, competitive costs — without worrying about carbon emissions — for natural gas,” Khosla said.