Few energy sources can surpass the potential of geothermal, with at least 42 terawatts of capacity available worldwide. according According to the IEA, it more than doubled global energy consumption last year.
Technology is emerging as the dark horse of the energy world, even though investment in technology pales in comparison startups in advanced nuclear fission and fusion power.
That makes the $19 million in seed funding raised by a startup called Critical energy especially notable. Critical Energy hopes to fill a major gap for geothermal power plants by building modular turbines tailored to them. The funds are earmarked to build its first 2.5-megawatt project, the startup exclusively told TechCrunch.
Meanwhile, the darlings of the investment world, those working on nuclear fission and fusion, are targeting the early 2030s for their first commercial deployments. By then, geothermal startups could be building gigawatt-scale power plants.
“Geothermal will beat them to it. By a long shot,” Spencer Jackson, co-founder and CEO of Critical Energy, told TechCrunch. “In four or five years, I expect we will be producing many gigawatts a year.”
Even a modest expansion of geothermal energy could pay off in meeting the world’s (and especially the tech industry’s) growing energy needs. A recent report said that advanced geothermal energy could power almost two thirds of new data centers by 2030.
But Jackson said there is a looming shortage of compatible turbines. Today, many projects specify large turbines, which can take months or years to assemble on site, he said. “It’s still much faster and cheaper to do it the other direction, to build it in a factory.”
Critical Energy hopes to fill the gap with modular turbines. To design them, Jackson drew on his experience at SpaceX, where he worked on Falcon Heavy, Starship and the Raptor rocket engine. To build them quickly, Critical Energy is working with machine shops to make turbomachines and other turbine components, which resemble rocket engines. Are purchasing other pieces available for now. In the future, the startup may decide to bring other parts in-house, similar to how Tesla and SpaceX have done, Jackson said.
The first power plant using Critical Energy turbines is scheduled to be completed by 2027 and will be installed on an existing geothermal site similar to those found in Iceland or at The Geysers in Northern California. Critical Energy is also designing a larger, 5-megawatt module aimed at enhanced geothermal companies like Fervo Energy, which drill deeper into the Earth to extract more heat.
By the early 2030s, Jackson expects Critical Energy to produce gigawatts worth of turbines. “We’re looking for the fastest path to gigawatts of scalable energy on the grid,” he said. “The long-term goal is 300 gigawatts a year by 2045.”
Although geothermal development has quietly advanced, Jackson expects that once the technology is more mature, oil and gas companies will dive in, speeding things up considerably.
“Geothermal is great because the oil and gas industry has the ability to replicate hundreds and then thousands of wells. They are very, very good at drilling wells,” he said. “But they need turbines and there will be a huge shortage of them.”
The seed rounds were led by Susa Ventures and Upfront Ventures with participation from MaC Venture Capital, Susquehanna Sustainable Investments, Humba Ventures, Scribble Ventures and Underground Ventures. The startup also raised $3 million in venture debt from Silicon Valley Bank, bringing its total initial capital to $22 million.
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