Enhanced geothermal energy developer Fervo Energy has closed a $462 million Series E funding round, led by B Capital and including Google.

Fervo will use the funds to support the build-out of its Cape Station geothermal project and several other early-stage projects. Cape Station is a geothermal scheme located in Beaver County, Utah. It is slated to begin delivering 100MW to the grid by 2026, with plans to increase that to 500MW by 2028. If fully built, the project will be the largest enhanced geothermal (EGS) project in the world.

EGS borrows technology and techniques from hydraulic fracking to create permeability in reservoirs that would otherwise be inaccessible to produce commercially viable quantities of geothermal brine. As a result, EGS can access significantly more geothermal potential than conventional practices and achieve much higher capacity factors.

“Energy markets are demanding dependable, carbon-free power at an unprecedented scale, and Fervo is uniquely positioned to supply it,” said Tim Latimer, CEO and co-founder of Fervo Energy. “This funding sharpens our path from breakthrough technology to large-scale deployment at Cape Station and beyond. We’re building the clean, firm power fleet the next decade requires, and we’re doing it now.”

Google has backed Fervo since 2021, committing to support the development of the power company's 5MW demonstration plant in Nevada. In 2023, Fervo successfully delivered 3.5MW of power to a nearby Google data center from the demonstration plant. Following this, last year, Google committed to purchase 115MW of capacity from Fervo via a “clean transition tariff,” to help power its Nevada data centers.

Google has also backed Baseload Capital, a conventional geothermal firm that is developing several projects in Taiwan, after signing a 10MW Power Purchase Agreement with the firm in April.

In addition to Google and B Capital, investors in the Series E round included AllianceBernstein, Atacama Ventures, Carbon Equity, Climate First, Mitsui & Co., Dr. Kris Singh (founder of Holtec International), and JB Straubel, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, CalSTRS, Capricorn Investment Group, Centaurus Capital, Congruent Ventures, CPP Investments, DCVC, Devon Energy, Echelon, Galvanize, Impact Science Ventures, Liberty Mutual Investments, Marunouchi Innovation Partners, Mercuria, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Sabanci Climate Ventures.

Google isn't the only hyperscaler to back geothermal energy. Meta has also signed offtake agreements with two ESG developers in the US. Last year, it signed a deal with Sage Geosystems for 150MW of power from a project under development “east of the Rocky Mountains.” Following this, in June, it signed a 150MW agreement with XGS Energy for a project under development in New Mexico.

Microsoft has also gotten in on the act. In 2023, the tech giant signed a ten-year PPA with Contact Energy for 51MW of power in New Zealand. The company also partnered with G42 to construct a data center in Kenya that will be run exclusively on geothermal energy.