Deep Heat: How Millimeter-Wave Drilling is Changing the Geothermal Equation

1. Introduction: The Asymmetry of the 2026 Energy Landscape

By the first quarter of 2026, the global energy transition had crystallized into a configuration that was simultaneously triumphant and precarious. The trajectory of global decarbonization, driven by the precipitous decline in the costs of solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind turbines, had achieved milestones that were once the province of optimistic climate modeling. International energy bodies, including the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), reported that renewable energy capacity had surged to approximately 4,448 gigawatts (GW) by the close of 2024, a figure that continued its aggressive climb through 2025.¹ In the United States, the deployment of utility-scale solar had accelerated to the point where solar and wind generation were projected to account for 21% of total electricity by 2027, creating a grid that was fundamentally cleaner than at any point in history.¹

However, beneath this narrative of exponential growth lay a profound structural asymmetry. The energy mix was becoming increasingly dominated by Variable Renewable Energy (VRE). Solar and wind technologies, having successfully driven the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) to record lows, accounted for nearly 97% of all net renewable additions in 2024.¹ This dominance introduced a new systemic vulnerability: intermittency. As the grid became saturated with weather-dependent generation, the challenge shifted from merely producing green electrons to ensuring their availability during the "dark doldrums" of windless nights or the evening demand peaks that define the modern electrical load profile.

In the shadow of these variable giants, geothermal energy—the harnessing of the Earth's continuously radiating internal heat—remained a statistical footnote. In 2024, while solar developers added hundreds of gigawatts of capacity, the global geothermal sector managed to add only 0.4 GW.¹ To the casual observer and many policymakers, it appeared that the technological winners had been chosen, and geothermal was not among them. The disparity in raw deployment figures suggested a stagnation, leading analysts to ask whether the world was ignoring a critical resource in its pursuit of the lowest immediate LCOE.

Yet, this statistical stagnation masked a profound technological and economic renaissance occurring beneath the surface. The period between 2020 and 2026 witnessed a fundamental decoupling of geothermal energy from its historical geological constraints. Through the advent of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), Advanced Geothermal Systems (AGS), and ultra-deep millimeter-wave drilling technologies, the sector began a transition from a niche curiosity restricted to volcanic fault lines into a scalable, "firm" power source capable of anchoring a carbon-free grid. This report provides an exhaustive analysis of this transition, exploring the technical breakthroughs, economic shifts, and deployment realities of 2025-2026 to determine if the "ignored" resource is, in fact, the sleeping giant of the net-zero future.

2. The Structural Crisis of Variable Renewables

To understand the necessity of the geothermal renaissance, one must first appreciate the specific limitations of the incumbent renewable technologies. The "boom" of the mid-2020s was not merely a growth in capacity; it was a fundamental reshaping of grid dynamics that exposed the boundaries of a solar-and-wind-only strategy.

2.1 The Saturation of Variable Energy and the Duck Curve

The industrialization of solar and wind occurred on a planetary scale. In China, the simultaneous commissioning of coal units alongside a booming renewables sector fundamentally altered utilization rates, while in the United States, utility-scale solar became the fastest-growing source of electricity generation.¹ The driving force was an unprecedented reduction in cost. The LCOE for unsubsidized onshore wind dropped to a range of $27 to $73 per megawatt-hour (MWh), and utility-scale solar fell to between $29 and $92 per MWh.¹ These figures rendered new fossil fuel plants economically uncompetitive in terms of pure energy generation.

However, the success of VREs illuminated the "reliability gap." Solar energy production follows a diurnal cycle that peaks at midday, often leading to oversupply and negative pricing, before plummeting to zero at sunset. This drop coincides perfectly with the evening spike in residential demand, creating the phenomenon known as the "Duck Curve." By 2026, this curve had deepened significantly in markets like California and Texas. While battery storage costs had declined, enabling four-hour shifting of solar power, long-duration storage remained prohibitively expensive.² The grid required "clean firm" power—sources that could generate 24/7 without carbon emissions—to replace the baseload inertia previously provided by coal and nuclear plants.

2.2 The Land Use Intensity Problem

As deployment scaled, the physical footprint of energy generation became a critical constraint. Solar and wind are inherently diffuse energy sources, requiring vast collection areas to harvest significant power. Utility-scale solar PV requires approximately 30 square kilometers per terawatt-hour (TWh) of generation, while wind farms can require over 70 square kilometers per TWh when accounting for turbine spacing.¹ In contrast, geothermal energy is the most land-efficient renewable resource, requiring only roughly 7.5 square kilometers per TWh.¹ In densely populated regions like Europe or the Eastern United States, or in ecologically sensitive areas, the sprawling footprint of VREs began to face significant regulatory and social headwinds, creating an opening for a high-density, subterranean power source.

2.3 The AI Energy Hunger

A major, unanticipated driver of the firm power requirement in 2025-2026 was the voracious energy demand of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and hyperscale data centers. Unlike residential loads, which fluctuate, data centers require a flat, consistent power profile—a 100% load factor—to operate servers 24/7. Electricity demand from U.S. data centers was projected to jump from 270 TWh in 2025 to 343 TWh in 2026.¹ Tech giants like Google and Microsoft, committed to 24/7 carbon-free energy (CFE) goals, found that intermittent solar and wind could not meet this demand without massive, uneconomic over-builds of capacity and storage. This sector became the "anchor tenant" for the emerging geothermal industry, signing premium Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) that provided the bankable revenue streams necessary to finance new infrastructure.⁴

3. The Geothermal Stagnation: The Geological Lottery

If geothermal energy is firm, carbon-free, and land-efficient, its failure to scale prior to 2025 requires explanation. The answer lies in the geological limitations of conventional hydrothermal systems.

3.1 The Hydrothermal Constraint

Historically, geothermal power generation relied on identifying a "perfect storm" of geological conditions known as a hydrothermal system. A viable reservoir required three elements to coexist naturally:

1. Heat: High temperatures relatively close to the surface.

2. Fluid: Sufficient water saturation within the rock to act as a heat transfer medium.

3. Permeability: A network of open fractures allowing the fluid to flow freely into a wellbore.

These conditions are statistically rare, typically found only near tectonic plate boundaries or "hot spots"—the so-called "Ring of Fire." Countries like Iceland, New Zealand, Indonesia, and the Western United States (specifically California and Nevada) flourished due to their tectonic positioning, but the vast majority of the planet was effectively locked out of the geothermal market.¹

3.2 The Exploration Risk Profile

Beyond geographic scarcity, the economic structure of conventional geothermal development acted as a major deterrent to investment. Unlike a solar farm, where the resource (sunlight) is visible and measurable before construction begins, geothermal development operates with high "exploration risk." A developer might spend $10 to $20 million drilling an exploration well only to find that the rock is hot but impermeable ("dry"), rendering the investment nearly worthless.¹ This high upfront risk profile, combined with the complexities of subsurface engineering, kept capital costs high. In 2025, the LCOE of geothermal remained between $61 and $102 per MWh—significantly higher than the $30 range of solar.¹ For decades, this price gap justified the market's preference for wind and solar. However, as the value of reliability began to command a premium, and as technology began to unlock resources away from volcanic zones, the calculus started to change.

4. Technological Pillar I: Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS)

The narrative of "ignoring" geothermal fails to account for a quiet revolution that took place in the drilling rigs of Utah, Texas, and Nevada between 2020 and 2026. The industry moved from a paradigm of finding resources to creating them. The first and most mature of these new pathways is Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS).

4.1 The Mechanism of Hydraulic Stimulation

EGS represents the direct transfer of technology from the unconventional oil and gas sector (the "shale revolution") to renewable energy. By adapting the techniques of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, EGS engineers can create permeability in hot, dry rock—resources that are ubiquitous across the globe at varying depths.

In a modern EGS project, wells are drilled vertically to reach the target depth and temperature, then steered horizontally to maximize contact with the hot formation. Fluid is injected at high pressure to shear existing natural fractures or create new tensile fractures, creating a permeable reservoir where none existed. A production well is then drilled to intersect these fractures, creating a circuit where water can circulate to harvest heat.⁷

The physics of stimulation in EGS differs slightly from oil and gas fracking. While oil and gas operations often use proppants (sand) to keep fractures open, EGS relies heavily on "hydroshearing"—forcing the rough surfaces of natural fractures to slip against each other. When the pressure is released, the mismatched surfaces do not close perfectly, leaving open pathways for fluid flow.⁹

4.2 Fervo Energy and the Cape Station Breakthrough

By 2025, Fervo Energy had emerged as the standard-bearer for the commercialization of EGS. Utilizing a design philosophy borrowed heavily from the oil fields, Fervo's "Project Red" in Nevada successfully demonstrated the viability of horizontal doublet wells. This success was rapidly scaled at their flagship project, "Cape Station" in Beaver County, Utah.¹

Cape Station represents the transition from pilot to factory. The project targets 400 MW of firm power capacity, with the first 100 MW scheduled to come online in 2026.¹⁰ Crucially, Fervo demonstrated that EGS is repeatable. By 2025, they had drilled 15 wells at Cape Station, achieving a 70% reduction in drilling times year-over-year.¹¹ The cost of drilling these high-temperature horizontal wells dropped from $9.4 million to $4.8 million per well in a single year, fundamentally altering the economic model of the technology.¹²

4.3 Fiber Optic Sensing and Flow Profiling

A critical technological enabler for Fervo's success was the integration of distributed fiber optic sensing (DFOS) into the wellbore. Historically, geothermal engineers had limited visibility into where fluid was flowing within a reservoir. Fervo utilized Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) and Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) to create continuous profiles of flow and temperature along the entire horizontal section of the well.⁸

The physics of DAS relies on Rayleigh backscattering. When a laser pulse is sent down a fiber optic cable, minute impurities in the glass scatter light back to the source. If the fiber is deformed by acoustic vibrations (such as fluid exiting a perforation cluster), the phase of the backscattered light shifts. By analyzing these shifts, engineers can pinpoint exactly which fracture stages are accepting fluid and which are underperforming.¹³ This data allowed Fervo to implement "zonal isolation" and multi-stage stimulation, ensuring that the entire length of the wellbore contributed to heat harvest, solving the historical problem of "short-circuiting" where cool water would rush through a single large fracture without absorbing sufficient heat.¹⁵

5. Technological Pillar II: Advanced Geothermal Systems (AGS)

While EGS focuses on creating fractures in the rock, Advanced Geothermal Systems (AGS), often referred to as closed-loop geothermal, bypass the need for rock permeability entirely.

5.1 The Closed-Loop Radiator Concept

AGS functions analogously to a giant underground radiator. Instead of injecting water into the rock matrix, a working fluid is circulated through a sealed loop of pipe drilled deep into the Earth. The fluid creates a closed circuit, absorbing heat via conduction from the rock without ever physically touching it or exchanging fluids with the formation.¹ This approach eliminates the risk of groundwater contamination and induced seismicity, as no fluid is added to or removed from the subsurface.

5.2 The Eavor-Loop and Thermodynamics

The leading proponent of this technology, Eavor Technologies, validated the commercial viability of this approach with the "Eavor-Loop™." The system utilizes a multilateral design, where two vertical wells are connected by a series of horizontal laterals, creating a massive surface area for heat exchange.

A key physical principle driving the Eavor-Loop is the "thermosiphon" effect. Because the fluid in the injection well is cold and dense, while the fluid in the production well is hot and less dense, a natural pressure differential is created that circulates the fluid without the need for energy-intensive parasitic pumping. In the Eavor-Lite demonstration, this effect was shown to drive circulation autonomously.¹⁶

However, the physics of AGS faces a strict constraint: the rate of heat recharge. Heat moves through solid rock via conduction, a process that is significantly slower than the advection (fluid movement) utilized in EGS and hydrothermal systems. Critics have argued that the rock surrounding the wellbore would cool rapidly (thermal drawdown), leading to a decline in power output. To mitigate this, Eavor utilizes the "Eavor-Loop 2.0" design, which stacks multiple laterals to maximize the volume of rock accessed, effectively harvesting heat from a larger block of the subsurface to sustain output over decades.¹⁸

5.3 The Geretsried Commercial Milestone

In Geretsried, Germany, Eavor achieved a historic milestone in late 2025. The project involved drilling deep, multilateral closed loops to provide district heating and electrical power. It served as a proof-of-concept that AGS could be deployed in sedimentary basins far from volcanic activity.²⁰ The successful connection of the Geretsried plant to the grid offered a blueprint for decarbonizing Europe's heating sector, reducing reliance on imported natural gas.

6. Technological Pillar III: Superhot Rock (SHR) and Directed Energy

The final frontier of the geothermal renaissance seeks to access the "Superhot Rock" (SHR) resource—geothermal formations where temperatures exceed 373°C, the critical point of water.

6.1 The Physics of Supercritical Water

At temperatures and pressures above the critical point, water enters a supercritical state. In this phase, it possesses the density of a liquid but the viscosity of a gas, and its specific enthalpy (energy content) increases dramatically. A geothermal well tapping into supercritical water can transport up to ten times the energy of a conventional well, meaning a few dozen SHR wells could match the power output of a large coal or nuclear power plant.¹

6.2 Millimeter-Wave Drilling: Vaporization vs. Melting

Accessing these depths (10-20 km) is impossible with conventional mechanical drill bits, which soften and fail at extreme temperatures. Quaise Energy, an MIT spinoff, pioneered a solution using directed energy: millimeter-wave (MMW) drilling.

The technology utilizes a gyrotron, a high-power vacuum tube originally developed for nuclear fusion research to heat plasma. The gyrotron generates electromagnetic waves in the millimeter spectrum (30-300 GHz). These waves are guided down the borehole using a corrugated waveguide (mode converter).³

When the high-energy beam hits the rock, it does not merely melt it; it induces dielectric heating, causing the rock matrix to absorb the energy and vaporize. The phase change creates a violent expansion that ejects rock particles as a fine ash or fume, which is then lifted to the surface by a purge gas (such as nitrogen or argon).⁶

6.3 Vitrification and Borehole Stability

A serendipitous side effect of this process is the "vitrification" of the borehole wall. As the beam penetrates, the heat melts the rock at the periphery of the hole, which then cools to form a glass-like (vitrified) liner. This liner seals the borehole, preventing collapse and isolating the well from surrounding fluids, potentially eliminating the need for steel casing and cement at extreme depths.²⁴

By 2025, Quaise had successfully demonstrated this technology in field tests, drilling through basalt and granite at rates comparable to mechanical drilling but without the wear and tear on downhole equipment. Their roadmap targets the repowering of fossil fuel plants by replacing their coal boilers with deep geothermal steam, leveraging existing turbines and transmission infrastructure.²⁶

7. The Economics of Firm Power: Value Over Cost

The primary critique of geothermal energy remains its LCOE. In a market where solar is $30/MWh, paying $70-$100/MWh for geothermal seems economically irrational. However, energy markets in 2026 increasingly shifted from valuing "least-cost energy" to valuing "least-cost reliability."

7.1 The Lazard Analysis (2025)

The Lazard Levelized Cost of Energy+ 2025 report highlighted a critical divergence. While the LCOE of standalone solar and wind remained low ($29-$92/MWh), the "cost of firming"—adding sufficient battery storage to make that power available 24/7—pushed the effective system cost significantly higher.

• Geothermal LCOE: $61 - $102/MWh.¹

• Gas Peaking: $110 - $228/MWh.¹

• Advanced Nuclear: $141 - $221/MWh.¹

When viewed as a replacement for gas peakers or as a competitor to solar-plus-storage, geothermal became highly competitive. It provides the same reliability attributes as a gas plant (dispatchability, inertia) but with zero emissions and a fixed fuel cost (zero) for the life of the plant.¹

7.2 The PPA Premium

This value proposition was validated by the market behavior of large energy buyers. In 2025, Fervo Energy announced a 500 MW PPA with Shell Energy, and Google continued to expand its geothermal procurement.⁴ These buyers were willing to pay a premium over solar for the guarantee of 24/7 clean power, which is essential for meeting "hourly matching" carbon goals. The rise of AI data centers, which cannot tolerate the intermittency of standalone renewables, further solidified this premium market tier.²⁸

8. Environmental Dimensions: Risk and Reward

As geothermal scales, it faces scrutiny regarding its environmental footprint. While it is the most land-efficient renewable, it is not without risks, primarily concerning seismicity and water use.

8.1 Induced Seismicity: The "Basel" Shadow

The most significant environmental challenge for EGS is induced seismicity—earthquakes triggered by high-pressure fluid injection. The industry operates under the shadow of the 2006 Basel project in Switzerland and the 2017 Pohang earthquake in South Korea, both of which were linked to EGS activity and resulted in project cancellations.³⁰

By 2026, the industry had standardized rigid "Traffic Light Protocols" (TLP). Sensors monitor seismic activity in real-time. If micro-seismicity exceeds a low threshold (e.g., Magnitude 2.0, which is barely perceptible), injection is immediately paused or reduced (Amber Light). If it exceeds a higher threshold, operations cease (Red Light).³² Research at the Utah FORGE laboratory refined these protocols, demonstrating that careful pressure management could create fractures without triggering felt earthquakes. Fervo Energy's "Sustainable Development Pact," launched in 2025, codified these safety measures into public commitments, emphasizing transparency with local communities.³³

8.2 Water Stewardship

Traditional EGS consumes water, primarily for cooling and reservoir make-up. However, modern binary plants operate on closed loops where 100% of the brine is reinjected. Furthermore, AGS systems like the Eavor-Loop consume no water during operation. Fervo Energy reported using degraded or non-potable water for their stimulation operations, mitigating competition with agricultural or municipal needs in the water-stressed American West.³⁴ In comparison to the water intensity of nuclear or coal plants (which require massive amounts for cooling), geothermal's lifecycle water usage per MWh is negligible.

9. The Supply Chain Pivot: Manufacturing Reservoirs

A crucial, often overlooked aspect of the geothermal renaissance is its symbiotic relationship with the oil and gas industry. The technologies driving EGS—PDC drill bits, directional drilling motors, fiber optics, packers, and fracking fleets—are the direct inheritance of the hydrocarbon sector.

In 2026, as oil demand began to plateau, the geothermal sector offered a "just transition" pathway for the skilled workforce of the fossil fuel industry. Drilling crews in Texas or Utah did not need retraining to drill for heat instead of oil; they simply needed to point their rigs at different targets. This pre-existing supply chain allowed Fervo and others to scale rapidly without the bottlenecks that plagued the offshore wind or nuclear industries. The manufacturing of geothermal reservoirs became a new industrial logic: instead of hunting for oil, the industry was manufacturing heat exchangers in the crust.¹⁰

10. Conclusion: The Silent Baseload

To answer the titular question—are we ignoring the power of geothermal energy?—the data suggests a paradox. In terms of raw capacity additions, the world remains obsessed with wind and solar, and the 0.4 GW of geothermal added in 2024 appears as a rounding error against the hundreds of gigawatts of PV. However, from a technological and strategic perspective, the industry is more alive than ever. The "ignoring" phase has ended.

The convergence of drilling innovation, energy security needs, and the physical limitations of variable renewables has created the perfect ecosystem for geothermal to thrive. We are witnessing the birth of a new energy archetype: the manufactured reservoir. Whether through the hydraulic stimulation of EGS, the closed-loop conduction of AGS, or the directed-energy vaporization of SHR, humanity has learned to decouple geothermal energy from the rare geological accidents of the past.

As we move deeper into the late 2020s, the "boom" of solar and wind will likely be seen not as the final victory of the energy transition, but as the opening act. The second act belongs to the firm, silent power beneath our feet. Geothermal is no longer waiting for the Earth to provide a perfect reservoir; we have learned to build one. The heat beneath is no longer a niche; it is the necessary foundation of a reliable, decarbonized future.

Key Data Summary (2025-2026)

Metric	Solar PV (Utility)	Wind (Onshore)	Geothermal (EGS/New)
Capacity Factor	15-25%	30-45%	>90%
LCOE ($/MWh)	$29 - $92	$27 - $73	$61 - $102
Land Use (km²/TWh)	~30	~70+	~7.5
Generation Profile	Intermittent (Day)	Variable	Firm (24/7)
Key 2025 Innovation	Bi-facial panels	Larger turbines	Horizontal Drilling / Fiber Optics

Table 1: Comparative metrics for primary renewable technologies. Sources: Lazard 2025 ¹, NREL ²³, Fervo Energy.¹

Works cited

1. Levelized Cost of Energy+ (LCOE+) [Lazard 2025 update] : r/nuclear - Reddit, accessed February 5, 2026, https://www.reddit.com/r/nuclear/comments/1lfk01c/levelized_cost_of_energy_lcoe_lazard_2025_update/

2. Millimeter Wave Drilling: Part 5 - Quaise Energy, accessed February 5, 2026, https://www.quaise.com/news/millimeter-wave-drilling

3. Protocol for Addressing Induced Seismicity Associated with Enhanced Geothermal Systems - Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, accessed February 5, 2026, https://www1.eere.energy.gov/geothermal/pdfs/geothermal_seismicity_protocol_012012.pdf

4. Fervo Energy Announces Technology Breakthrough in Next-Generation Geothermal, accessed February 5, 2026, https://fervoenergy.com/fervo-energy-announces-technology-breakthrough-in-next-generation-geothermal/

5. Quaise Energy Achieves Drilling Milestone with Millimeter Wave Technology, accessed February 5, 2026, https://www.quaise.com/news/quaise-energy-achieves-drilling-milestone-with-millimeter-wave-technology

6. Update on the Geology, Temperature, Fracturing, and Resource Potential at the Cape Geothermal Project Informed by Data Acquired from the Drilling of Additional Horizontal EGS Wells - Stanford University, accessed February 5, 2026, https://pangea.stanford.edu/ERE/pdf/IGAstandard/SGW/2025/Fercho.pdf

7. Fiber Optic Model Based Flow Quantification Enhancing Geothermal Systems - Stanford University, accessed February 5, 2026, https://pangea.stanford.edu/ERE/pdf/IGAstandard/SGW/2025/Titov.pdf

8. A State-of-the-Art Review of Hydraulic Fracturing in Geothermal Systems - MDPI, accessed February 5, 2026, https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/24/11087

9. Millimeter Wave Drilling | The Future of Clean Energy - YouTube, accessed February 5, 2026, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF8J9OUuaSQ

10. Fervo Energy's Record-Breaking Production Results Showcase Rapid Scale Up Of Enhanced Geothermal, accessed February 5, 2026, https://fervoenergy.com/fervo-energys-record-breaking-production-results-showcase-rapid-scale-up-of-enhanced-geothermal/

11. Fervo Energy Drilling Results Show Rapid Advancement of Geothermal Performance, accessed February 5, 2026, https://fervoenergy.com/fervo-energy-drilling-results-show-rapid-advancement-of-geothermal-performance/

12. Research Progress in Distributed Acoustic Sensing Techniques - PMC, accessed February 5, 2026, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9412507/

13. Principles of Distributed Temperature Sensing | Silixa Ltd, accessed February 5, 2026, https://silixa.com/principles-of-distributed-temperature-sensing/

14. EGS Designs with Horizontal Wells, Multiple Stages, and Proppant, accessed February 5, 2026, https://www.resfrac.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Shiozawa.pdf

15. Eavor-Lite Demonstration Project - Emissions Reduction Alberta, accessed February 5, 2026, https://www.eralberta.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Eavor-Loop-Demonstration-Project.pdf

16. Case Study of a Multilateral Closed-Loop Geothermal System - Eavor, accessed February 5, 2026, https://www.eavor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/31065-Matthew-Toews-WGC-2020.pdf

17. Numerical modelling of a deep closed-loop geothermal system: evaluating the Eavor-Loop, accessed February 5, 2026, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358801413_Numerical_modelling_of_a_deep_closed-loop_geothermal_system_evaluating_the_Eavor-Loop

18. Eavor-Loop™ vs Traditional Geothermal - UK Parliament Committees, accessed February 5, 2026, https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/110132/pdf/

19. Eavor Technologies Achieves First Electricity Production at Geretsried Site, accessed February 5, 2026, https://eavor.com/press-releases/eavor-technologies-achieves-first-electricity-production-at-geretsried-site/

20. Lazard LCOE+ (June 2024), accessed February 5, 2026, https://www.lazard.com/media/xemfey0k/lazards-lcoeplus-june-2024-_vf.pdf

21. Millimeter Wave Drilling: The Key to Clean Energy Abundance, accessed February 5, 2026, https://www.quaise.com/news/millimeter-wave-drilling-the-key-to-clean-energy-abundance

22. Major Demo Keeps Quaise Energy on Track to Power the World with Clean, Renewable Geothermal Energy, accessed February 5, 2026, https://www.quaise.com/news/major-demo-keeps-quaise-energy-on-track-to-power-the-world-with-clean-renewable-geothermal-energy

23. Drilling for Superhot Geothermal Energy: A Technology Gap Analysis, accessed February 5, 2026, https://pangea.stanford.edu/ERE/pdf/IGAstandard/SGW/2025/Pearce.pdf

24. Quaise demos maser drill bit to go deeper than humans have ever gone - New Atlas, accessed February 5, 2026, https://newatlas.com/energy/quaise-energy-millimeter-wave-drill-demo-houston/

25. LEVELIZED COST OF ENERGY+ - Lazard, accessed February 5, 2026, https://www.lazard.com/media/uounhon4/lazards-lcoeplus-june-2025.pdf

26. Tapping into the million-year energy source below our feet | MIT News, accessed February 5, 2026, https://news.mit.edu/2022/quaise-energy-geothermal-0628

27. The Enhanced Geothermal Data Center Corridor | Fervo Energy, accessed February 5, 2026, https://fervoenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Fervo_UIPA_The-Enhanced-Geothermal-Data-Center-Corridor_July-2025.pdf

28. 2025 U.S. Geothermal Market Report - Publications, accessed February 5, 2026, https://docs.nrel.gov/docs/fy26osti/91898.pdf

29. Geothermal Engineering Integrating Mitigation of Induced Seismicity in Reservoirs | FP7, accessed February 5, 2026, https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/241321/reporting

30. Protocol for induced microseismicity in the first enhanced geothermal systems project in Pohang, Korea - IDEAS/RePEc, accessed February 5, 2026, https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v91y2018icp1182-1191.html

31. Good practices guide for managing seismicity induced by deep geothermal operations - Ineris, accessed February 5, 2026, https://www.ineris.fr/sites/default/files/contribution/Documents/Guide%20geothermie_Ineris-BRGM_anglais%20%28ID%202821990%29.pdf

32. Technology - Fervo Energy, accessed February 5, 2026, https://fervoenergy.com/technology/

33. Flexible geothermal power approach combines clean energy with a built-in 'battery', accessed February 5, 2026, https://engineering.princeton.edu/news/2024/02/16/flexible-geothermal-power-approach-combines-clean-energy-built-battery

34. Geothermal Mythbusting: Water Use and Impacts - Fervo Energy, accessed February 5, 2026, https://fervoenergy.com/geothermal-mythbusting-water-use-and-impacts/

35. Levelized Cost of Energy+ (LCOE+) - Lazard, accessed February 5, 2026, https://www.lazard.com/research-insights/levelized-cost-of-energyplus-lcoeplus/