Geothermal Energy Will Help Make The Strait Of Hormuz Irrelevant

A US startup called Quaise Energy is developing a new way to drill for geothermal power, the heat that comes from deep underground. Instead of relying on drills that touch rock, Quaise uses a high-power microwave system to melt through it, reaching depths of 300 to 500 degrees Celsius. The company says this can unlock 10 to 100 times more power than older geothermal methods, and can be built at existing power plant sites to use their existing connections to the grid.

Quaise just raised $134 million, with backing from Japanese energy giants JERA and Idemitsu, to support its Project Obsidian geothermal plant in Oregon. The first phase aims to deliver 50 megawatts, growing to more than 1 gigawatt by around 2030. That timeline would put it ahead of many planned natural gas plants, which are stuck waiting on equipment shortages, and ahead of nuclear projects, which face their own delays.

None of this changes anything for homeowners right now. It is not a rebate program or a home upgrade option. It is a sign that geothermal power, once limited to a handful of sites in the western US, may expand to more of the country and even overseas as this drilling technology matures. If that happens over the next several years, it could add more steady, always-on electricity to the grid, alongside the wind and solar power that still lead the pack for cost and speed of construction.