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The undisputed leader in advanced geothermal is Fervo, which went public in May via a $6.5-billion IPO. According to data from Currence, Fervo is ahead of its peers on every metric: tech maturity, acreage and offtake, financing, and drilling capabilities. It’s the drilling success in particular that has allowed it to demonstrate the viability of its approach — and raise significant amounts of capital and sign firm offtake agreements as a result.
There’s a large number of startups trailing in Fervo’s wake: Currence is tracking at least 14 other non-incumbents, all of whom are no doubt watching closely to see how Fervo performs on the public market.
The good news for those companies is that there’s a seemingly bottomless demand for clean firm power for AI, and geothermal — particularly advanced geothermal — is moving quickly. Advanced geothermal is an umbrella term that includes multiple approaches to harnessing subterranean heat that go beyond plumbing naturally productive hydrothermal reservoirs, which has been an established though niche industry for decades.
By one estimate, behind-the-meter advanced geothermal could serve more than half of projected U.S. data center load growth over the next decade. The technologies are already attracting interest from hyperscalers like Google and Meta. That said, the sector is still trailing other clean firm options like advanced nuclear, explained BNEF analyst Stephanie Diaz.
