Ormat Technologies bets on enhanced geothermal systems for AI data centers

Energy Minister Eknat Prompan has unveiled a major energy restructuring plan, under which the government will reserve 10,000 megawatts of rooftop solar generating capacity specifically for the public, set at roughly 5 kilowatts per household, to spread the right across households nationwide. Under the new approach, the state will buy back surplus power and apply it as a discount on the same billing cycle's electricity bill. A 5-kilowatt system can generate about 600 to 700 units per month, worth roughly 2,000 baht or more, and the state will provide a subsidy of 50,000 baht, with the income from the generated power used to pay it off. The equipment is expected to be fully paid off in about 7 to 10 years. On cutting permitting steps, coordination will be handled solely through the distribution utilities, with a target of about 1 week for inspection and acceptance in self-consumption installations, and no more than 1 month in cases of selling power back. For the new Power Development Plan, or PDP, three goals are set: cleanest, most stable, and fairest. It targets raising the share of clean energy from the current level of just over 20% to close to 50% within 10 years, and no less than 65% in the long term, while reducing reliance on spot-market LNG in favor of long-term contracts, and opening the door to future technologies including hydrogen, geothermal, solid oxide fuel cells, and small modular nuclear reactors, or SMRs. Meanwhile, the public electricity cost that has been embedded in the power tariff structure for 30 to 40 years amounts to a burden of about 18 billion baht per year. The government has removed this burden from the structure and has already implemented a measure capping the first 200 units of household electricity at 3 baht per unit.

Fervo Energy signed a 396-megawatt power purchase agreement with Google on Sept. 1, the largest enhanced geothermal PPA to date, with power to be supplied from Fervo's Cape Station development in Utah and delivered by 2028. Google also holds an agreement to expand its offtake by 600 MW, bringing the deal's total potential capacity to roughly 1 GW by June 2030. The contract builds on the two companies' earlier collaboration, which began with the Project Red pilot in 2021 and continued with a 115 MW power purchase agreement with Google and NV Energy in June 2024, after which Fervo committed to developing 3 gigawatts of geothermal projects. The agreement brings Fervo's total contracted power sales to about 1.1 GW and validates its Enhanced Geothermal Systems technology for the 24/7 baseload demands of AI data centers. Fervo, which went public on May 12 and raised about $2.2 billion, projects $850 million to $900 million in capital expenditures over the next 12 months and net losses for several years, with Phase I targeting around 100 MW of commercial operations later this year or early 2027 and Phase II adding another 400 MW in 2028.

Hexagon Energy and Weyerhaeuser Co. said on September 10 they have closed an agreement to develop geothermal projects on Weyerhaeuser timberlands in Washington and Oregon, a deal that could provide an estimated 3 GW of geothermal power generation capacity in the Pacific Northwest. Under the agreement, Hexagon Energy has leased geothermal rights on about 145,000 acres across the two states, part of Weyerhaeuser's holdings as one of the largest private owners of timberland in North America. Kendall Fountain, vice president of Energy and Natural Resources for Weyerhaeuser, said the company's ownership presents a unique platform to evaluate geothermal potential in the region while supporting growth of its Climate Solutions business. Matthew Hantzmon, CEO of Hexagon Energy, said the partnership aims to bring abundant, clean, baseload energy to the Pacific Northwest. The companies noted the collaboration comes amid rising demand for geothermal energy, driven in part by electricity needs from artificial intelligence and data centers. Hexagon Energy, headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia, has developed and financed more than 3 GW of power generation capacity for U.S. electric utilities, representing more than $4.5 billion in investment, and its current pipeline includes more than 10 GW of power under active development.