The geothermal startup Fervo Energy is now selling power to the grid from its Cape Station project in Utah — marking the first time a utility-scale, next-generation geothermal facility has achieved such a feat worldwide.

The Houston-based firm turned on an initial 33-megawatt unit late last week and has been testing and ramping up output since then. On Thursday, Fervo will officially begin commercial operations, supplying carbon-free electricity to Shell Energy, a retail power provider in California.

Cape Station, a $2 billion project that will eventually be 500 MW, is unique among the world’s commercial geothermal plants. While other facilities draw on naturally occurring hot water and steam, Fervo has engineered its own geothermal resource deep underground. The startup uses drilling techniques from the oil and gas industry to create reservoirs in hot, dry rocks that generate steam to produce electricity.

“Traditional geothermal would have never been done in southern Utah,” says Dawn Owens, Fervo’s senior vice president and head of development and commercial markets.

With the first unit online, Fervo says it is working to commission two more 33-MW power blocks by 1 January, 2027. The project’s remaining 400 MW — which is supported by a new agreement with Google — is under construction and slated to come online in 2028.

5-MW commercial pilot plant in Nevada, which went online in late 2023. Owens sa ys the pilot, called Project Red, was important for demonstrating the technology itself. But firing up Cape Station proves that Fervo’s approach can achieve utility scale and export power to wider markets.

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