Two recent deals show support for geothermal power innovation

Geothermal is heating up—pun certainly intended. The renewable energy, which comes from underground hot water reservoirs, is considered an emerging renewable source not yet deployable at scale. But recent news indicates that geothermal’s momentum is growing.

Earlier this month, Google Cloud announced a new partnership with offshore drilling company SLB and Project Innerspace’s GeoMap, which provides information about geothermal sources and prospecting. And last month, green utility Clean Power Alliance signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with geothermal company Fervo Energy to provide geothermal power to almost 55,000 California homes annually over 15 years. Operations will start in 2028.

In a press release, Fervo VP and Head of Development & Commercial Markets Dawn Owens said the Clean Power Alliance PPA proves that geothermal is “not only commercially viable but also ready for large-scale deployment today.”

“We’re excited to deliver always-on, clean power to CPA’s millions of residential and business customers across Southern California,” Owens said, “and demonstrate how geothermal can strengthen and stabilize the grid."

Geothermal heat pumps and geothermal reservoirs are currently being used to heat and cool residences across the US. Geothermal is generated most in California—though the geothermal energy provided by Fervo will come from its Utah plant.

Google Cloud also described its geothermal collaboration as a means to “drive the adoption” of the renewable energy by “accelerat[ing] the identification and development of geothermal resources globally.” The project will bring together Project Innerspace’s geothermal datasets, geothermal consulting from SLB, and Google Cloud computing.

“This collaboration paves the way for widespread geothermal deployment on a global scale and will help meet future energy needs,” Google Cloud Energy Sector Managing Director Kyle Jessen said in a press release.

Similarly, Project Innerspace Executive Director Jamie Beard said she hopes the Google collab will “shift the massive potential of geothermal from the abstract into high-impact reality.”

“It’s time to get boots on the ground,” she said.