Geothermal energy could feed almost all new data centers until 2030

There is a crunch of power looming while the AI ​​and Cloud suppliers accelerate the construction of the data center. But a new report suggests that a solution is under their foundations.

Advanced geothermal energy could provide almost two thirds of the data center request by 2030, according to a analysis by the rhodium group. Addes would quadre the quantity of geothermal energy capacity in the United States – from 4 gigawatts to around 16 gigawatts – while costing the same or less than what data centers operators pay today.

In the western United States, where geothermal resources are more abundant, technology could provide 100% of the data center demand. Phoenix, for example, could add 3.8 gigawatts of data center capacity without building a single new conventional power station.

Geothermal resources have enormous potential to provide coherent power. Historically, the geothermal power plants have been limited to the places where the heat of the earth infiltrates the surface. But advanced geothermal techniques could unlock 90 gigawatts of power specific to the United States alone, according to to the American Department of Energy.

Advanced or improved geothermal energy includes a wide range of approaches, but generally they allow more deeply and more widely than before. This allows them to access the warmer rocks – which results in more power – and to wrap more geothermal wells on a single property. The sector has experienced a wave of startups in recent years, partly taken by knowledge and technology borrowed from oil and gas companies.

Fervo Energy, for example, was founded by former oil and gas engineers to extend the potential of geothermal energy using horizontal drilling techniques perfected in recent decades. Business collected more than $ 200 million In 2024 on the heels of a significant reduction in the costs of well boreholes.

Another startup, Energy, is drilling deeply To minimize the geothermal footprint, allowing office buildings and data centers limited to space to extract more power from their limited imprints. The company’s specialized drilling platforms have increased by more than 1,200 feet to type coherent heat all year round.

Quaise Energy technology looks like something about science fiction. The startup spray the rock Use of microwaves generated by gyrotrons. By jumping traditional forests, the Quiaisise hopes to unravel as deeply as 12.4 miles (20 kilometers). At this depth, the rocks are nearly 1,000 degrees F all year round, offering quantities of heat almost unlimited to drive generators or hot buildings.

While most companies use the Earth’s ability to provide and store heat, another startup uses it to store energy in another way. Sage geosystems was inject water into wells under pressure. When the power is necessary, it can open the taps and pass the water through a turbine, a bit like a hydroelectric dam upside down.

Since geothermal energy has very low operating costs, its price is competitive with the energy costs of data centers today, according to the Rhodium report. When the data centers are located in a similar way to the way they are today, a process which generally takes into account the proximity of optical fibers and the main metropolitan areas, geothermal power costs just over $ 75 per megawatt hour.

But when the developers explain the geothermal potential in their location, the costs drop considerably, at around $ 50 per megawatt hour.

The report assumes that the new generation capacity would be “behind the counter”, which experts call power plants which are connected directly to a customer, bypassing the grid. Waiting times for new power plants to connect to the network can Stretch for years. Consequently, the meter provisions have become more attractive for operators of data centers who rush to strengthen capacity.