Quaise Energy (Quaise) has announced the closing of its Series B financing round, raising $134 million which will fund Project Obsidian, the company’s superhot geothermal power project in Oregon, as well as the continued development of millimeter wave drilling technology. The Series B brings Quaise’s total funding raised to date to $230 million, following previous funding rounds.
The round was led by Prelude Ventures, with strategic investments from JERA and Idemitsu, two of Japan’s largest energy companies. Nearly all existing investors, including Safar Partners, participated in the round.
According to the company statement, additional equity and debt capital is concurrently being raised and is expected to close soon. Moreover, the company is progressing towards securing commercial off-take partners for their geothermal power project.
As announced earlier this year, work is now ongoing for Project Obsidian, a geothermal power plant that aims to tap into superhot geothermal resources in Oregon. Phase I of the project envisions as 50-MW development which is expected to be operational as early as 2030, and a second phase targets 250 MW. Power will support grid stability across the Pacific Northwest at a time when the region faces rising demand and constrained transmission capacity.
A key component of the project is Quaise’s millimeter wave drilling system, developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which can ablate rocks at extreme depths and temperatures. With this technology, Quaise aims to drill into rocks at temperatures of 300 to 500 °C, thus building geothermal power plants with power density comparable to fossil fuel or nuclear-powered plants.
“Our ambition is to power civilization with Earth’s most compelling energy source. This round takes us from field-proven technology to first commercial revenues,” said Carlos Araque, CEO and President of Quaise Energy.
“We have backed Quaise since the beginning because we believed accessing superhot rock would unlock geothermal energy at a scale the world has never seen,” said Mark Cupta, Managing Director at Prelude Ventures.
“What the team has achieved in the field and what they are now building at Project Obsidian validates that conviction, and we are proud to continue supporting Quaise as they move from proving the technology to powering the grid with clean, reliable energy nearly anywhere on Earth.”
Source: Quaise Energy
