Quaise Energy raises $134M to drill into superhot rock with microwaves

Startup Quaise Energy has raised $134M to develop a technology for drilling several kilometers deep by breaking rock with microwave radiation, giving access to superhot geothermal sources, Bloomberg reports. The venture fund Prelude Ventures led the first tranche of the Series B round.

How Quaise's approach differs

Traditional geothermal power has long meant relatively shallow wells and moderate rock temperatures. That limits the output and efficiency of geothermal plants to regions with favorable geology. Quaise Energy is betting on a fundamentally different scale: drilling several kilometers down, where rock temperatures are significantly higher and, as a result, so is the potential for generating energy.

• Amount raised: $134M
• Lead investor of the first Series B tranche: Prelude Ventures
• Technology: drilling several kilometers deep by breaking rock with microwave radiation
• Source: Bloomberg

Why microwave drilling

The key technical problem of ultra-deep drilling is mechanical wear on drill bits as they contact hard, red-hot rock at great depths. Breaking rock with microwaves instead of purely mechanical drilling is an attempt to get around that limit and cut the cost of reaching depths that conventional rigs cannot reach at comparable cost.

If the technology works at industrial scale, it could open access to superhot geothermal resources in regions that were previously not considered promising for geothermal power because the rock at accessible depths was not hot enough.

What this means

The $134M raise suggests investors are increasingly betting on deep drilling as a way to extend geothermal power beyond its traditionally favorable regions, provided the microwave rock-breaking method proves effective in practice.