Quaise Energy raises $134 million for the first commercial superhot geothermal energy plant
Quaise Energy raised $134 million at the first close of a Series B round to build Project Obsidian, the first commercial superhot geothermal plant.
Photo by Andreas Ebner on Pexels
Quaise Energy has raised $134 million at the first close of a Series B round to fund the first commercial superhot geothermal energy plant, the company announced on July 7, 2026. The Cambridge, Massachusetts firm, a 2018 spinout from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will use the money to build Project Obsidian on federal geothermal leases in the Deschutes National Forest in Oregon. The round brings its total capital raised to $230 million.
Superhot geothermal energy aims to reach rock hot enough to generate power at the scale of a fossil-fuel or nuclear plant, almost anywhere, rather than only at the shallow hotspots that conventional geothermal depends on. Quaise says its approach can access rock at 300-500°C in most locations worldwide.
How Quaise’s superhot geothermal energy approach works
Conventional geothermal plants tap heat close to the surface, which limits them to volcanic regions such as Iceland or parts of the western United States. Quaise instead uses a millimeter-wave drilling system, a technology developed at MIT, that vaporises rock without physical contact and is designed to reach depths and temperatures beyond conventional drill bits.
The company demonstrated the system at a field site in central Texas in 2025, boring more than 100 metres through granite, and has said it is working toward a one-kilometre depth at the same site. Chief executive Carlos Araque said the new round “takes us from field-proven technology to first commercial revenues.”
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Company | Quaise Energy |
| Founded | 2018 (MIT spinout) |
| Headquarters | Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Drilling method | Millimeter-wave (non-contact) |
| Target rock temperature | 300-500°C |
| First project | Project Obsidian |
| Location | Deschutes National Forest, Oregon |
| Stated potential | Gigawatt-scale |
| Grid electricity target | 2030 |
| Series B first close | $134 million |
| Raised to date | $230 million |
Source: Quaise Energy release, 7 July 2026; “ESG Today”, 8 July 2026.
The funding and who backed it
The round was led by Prelude Ventures, with strategic investments from JERA and Idemitsu, two of Japan’s largest energy companies, alongside nearly all existing investors. Quaise described the $134 million as the initial equity component of a broader capital programme and said it expects to announce further project-level equity and debt financing later in 2026.
Project Obsidian sits in one of the most studied geothermal areas in the United States and, according to Quaise, has gigawatt-scale potential. The company expects it to begin delivering electricity to the grid by 2030, supporting reliability in the Pacific Northwest as demand rises and transmission stays tight. The path from a 2018 laboratory idea to a grid-connected plant runs through a small number of milestones.
Background on next-generation geothermal
Geothermal supplies a small share of global electricity, held back by the need for naturally hot, shallow rock. A wave of companies is now trying to remove that limit with deeper drilling and engineered reservoirs, which would let geothermal act as firm, low-carbon power to balance wind and solar. Winss Solutions has examined the engineering behind this shift in the future of geothermal drilling and the broader case for capturing natural and waste heat as a sustainable solution.
Quaise’s contribution is a drilling method borrowed from fusion research, where millimeter-wave beams are used to heat plasma. Applied to rock, the same beams are meant to reach heat that ordinary bits cannot. The Series B first close moves that method from a Texas test hole toward a commercial plant in Oregon, with the company’s stated goal of grid electricity by 2030.
Sources: Quaise Energy; ESG Today; Canary Media
Featured image: photo by Andreas Ebner on Pexels (free Pexels license).
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I specialize in sustainability education, curriculum co-creation, and early-stage project strategy. At WINSS, I craft articles on sustainability, transformative AI, and related topics. When I’m not writing, you’ll find me chasing the perfect sushi roll, exploring cities around the globe, or unwinding with my dog Puffy — the world’s most loyal sidekick.
