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Khosla-backed Mazama Energy just raised $135M to drill deeper into super-hot-rock geothermal
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Mazama Energy, a geothermal startup incubated at Khosla Ventures, has raised $135 million in an oversubscribed Series B round. The company announced the funding Thursday. It will use the capital to develop horizontal wells in super-hot rock formations. Each well is expected to generate up to 15 megawatts of electricity.
The round was led by Centaurus Capital and Doerr Capital. ConocoPhillips and Shell Ventures participated, while existing investors Khosla Ventures and Gates Frontier returned. New backers included SiteGround Capital, H. Barton Asset Management, and the Jeffrey and Marieke Rothschild Foundation.
Mazama's first site in Oregon could produce 10 gigawatts of electricity, a sharp upward revision from last year’s 5-gigawatt estimate. Vinod Khosla had cited the lower figure. The company plans to start generating electricity sometime next year. It has already secured land for a second development.
Enhanced geothermal startups are emerging as a dark horse in powering AI data centers and other large grid loads. While tech companies and data center developers have backed natural gas, geothermal firms are advancing quickly. Mazama has drilled past 10,000 feet in 15 days on its way to about 15,000 feet. At those depths, it can access 750°F (400°C) heat.
That heat and pressure turn water into a supercritical fluid, neither fully liquid nor gas. This state absorbs far more energy than ordinary steam. Mazama says each well could produce up to 10 times more power than traditional geothermal technologies. The potential payoff is significant.
Tapping just 1% of super-hot rock worldwide could generate more than 63 terawatts of electricity, according to the University of Twente and the Clean Air Task Force. Mazama aims to complete its first site by 2030. By then, it says the site should generate 200 megawatts. The company is still in early stages in Oregon.
