Fervo Energy's Geothermal Contracts Reach $11.9 Billion in Orders

Geothermal energy company Fervo Energy reported $11.9 billion in contracted revenue in its third-quarter earnings release, up from $7.2 billion the previous quarter, according to TechCrunch. The jump comes as technology companies seek new electricity sources to run artificial intelligence data centers, and as Fervo has met recent construction deadlines at its Cape Station site in Utah.

What did Fervo report in its third-quarter results?

Fervo's earnings call, held Monday and reported by TechCrunch, disclosed an operating loss of $43.7 million for the quarter. The company said it holds $1.9 billion in cash and cash equivalents against $301.6 million in long-term debt, a cash position TechCrunch described as giving the company "plenty of runway." The contracted-revenue figure — the value of signed customer orders, not yet-realized sales — nearly doubled quarter over quarter, a pace the outlet tied to Fervo meeting recent construction milestones.

How does Fervo's geothermal technology work?

Fervo drills wells that reach deeper and hotter rock than earlier geothermal methods, with newer wells each capable of generating 15 megawatts of gross power, per the company's figures cited by TechCrunch. Several wells are linked into a unit the company calls a GeoBlock. The first completed GeoBlock produced 33 megawatts; more recent ones have reached 50 megawatts. Fervo sizes these blocks to roughly match the electricity demand of a single data center hall, allowing a hyperscale customer to bring capacity online incrementally as blocks finish construction, rather than waiting for an entire plant.

The approach is built at Cape Station, a Utah resource Fervo estimates can generate 8.4 gigawatts of electricity — more than double the roughly 4 gigawatt estimate that outside experts previously gave the site, according to TechCrunch's reporting.

What is the deal with Google at Cape Station?

Fervo is building a 396-megawatt plant for Google at Cape Station, called Cape Google 400, on track for completion by the end of 2028, TechCrunch reported. The company connected its first 100-megawatt plant at the same site to the grid earlier this year.

Fervo co-founder and CEO Tim Latimer, speaking on Monday's earnings call, said the project will be grid-connected so Google can draw power from it and resell unused capacity to other customers.

"We built Cape Station on our schedule. Google can develop a potential data center on their schedule, and neither party is waiting on the other," Latimer said, according to TechCrunch.

TechCrunch noted this phased construction model is an advantage geothermal holds over large nuclear or natural gas plants, which typically must be built and brought online as a single unit.

How much does Fervo's power cost compared to natural gas?

The first phase of Cape Station cost $7,000 per kilowatt of capacity, Fervo told TechCrunch. The Google-dedicated project came in at $5,500 per kilowatt — a drop the outlet said "suggests Fervo is on the right path." With subsidies factored in, that figure is roughly equivalent to a new natural gas plant running on fuel priced at $6 per million BTU, which TechCrunch noted is about twice what natural gas costs today.

Fervo's longer-term target is $3,000 per kilowatt. TechCrunch described that goal as "ambitious" but said that, if reached, it could let geothermal undercut natural gas power even at current fuel prices.

What risks remain for Fervo's business?

Fervo remains an early-stage company by its own financial disclosures: the $43.7 million quarterly operating loss sits alongside a cash reserve TechCrunch sized at $1.9 billion. The outlet framed the company's trajectory as contingent on continued cost reductions, cautioning that hyperscale customers currently paying premium prices for any available power "may not always be as price-indiscriminate" once supply catches up with AI-driven demand. Whether Fervo can move from $5,500 to $3,000 per kilowatt — a reduction of more than 45 percent from the Google project's cost — was not detailed in the source material beyond the company's stated target.

What to watch next

• Whether Fervo hits its 2028 completion date for the 396-megawatt Cape Google 400 project
• Further GeoBlock output figures as Fervo scales past the 50-megawatt mark reported for its most recent units
• Movement toward the company's $3,000-per-kilowatt cost target, the threshold TechCrunch said would let geothermal undercut natural gas pricing
• Additional contracted-revenue disclosures in Fervo's next earnings report, given the jump from $7.2 billion to $11.9 billion this quarter

Fervo has not set a timeline for reaching full development of the 8.4-gigawatt Cape Station resource, according to the available reporting.