Google is betting big on a Houston startup to meet AI's energy hunger
Google has agreed to buy up to 1 gigawatt of geothermal power from Houston-based Fervo Energy’s Cape Station project near Milford, Utah, to supply a planned Utah data center. Fervo has begun generating its first 33 megawatts, but researchers question whether the relatively new technology can operate reliably for decades at the required scale.
Google has signed a geothermal power agreement with Houston-based Fervo Energy to support a planned data center in Utah. The deal calls for nearly 400 megawatts from Fervo’s Cape Station project by 2028, with an option for an additional 600 megawatts by 2030. Fervo says it is the largest public power agreement for a geothermal project, and the company has begun operating its first 33 megawatts at the site near Milford.
Fervo plans to invest $2.2 billion to expand Cape Station, using enhanced-geothermal drilling to extract heat from deep underground. The arrangement is intended to address concerns about data centers’ growing electricity demand, but University of Houston energy expert Greg Bean and other researchers said the technology has not yet demonstrated reliable operation over multiple decades. Texas officials, including Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, are separately seeking proposals for geothermal development on state lands as electricity demand is expected to rise.