seeing green

Houston cleantech startup seeks $200M for superhot geothermal plant

Quaise Energy is developing Project Obsidian, a superhot geothermal plant in central Oregon. Rendering via quaise.com.

Houston-based Quaise Energy is looking to raise $200 million to support the development of a 50-megawatt superhot geothermal plant in Oregon.

The company is seeking $100 million in Series B funding, plus an additional $100 million from grants, debt and project-level finance, a representative from the company tells Energy Capital. Axios first reported the news late last month.

Quaise specializes in terawatt-scale geothermal power. It is known for its millimeter-wave drilling technology, which was developed at MIT.

The company's Project Obsidian development in central Oregon will combine conventional drilling with its millimeter-wave technology. Quaise says the project, targeted to come online in 2030, could be the first commercial plant to operate in superhot rock, a more efficient and abundant resource, but one that requires more advanced and durable drilling technology.

Quaise says Obsidian would initially generate 50 megawatts of "always-on" power and would be designed to add 200 megawatts as additional wells are developed. A power-purchase deal has already been signed for the initial 50 megawatts with an undisclosed customer.

A representative from the company says Quaise would also use the funding to continue advancing its millimeter-wave technology and prepare it for commercialization.

Last year, the company drilled to a depth of about 330 feet using its millimeter-wave technology at its field site in Central Texas.

“Our progress this year has exceeded all expectations,” Carlos Araque, CEO and president of Quaise Energy, said at the time. “We’re drilling faster and deeper at this point than anyone believed possible, proving that millimeter-wave technology is the only tool capable of reaching the superhot rock needed for next-generation geothermal power. We are opening up a path to a new energy frontier.”

Canary Media reports that Quaise plans to drill to nearly 3,300 feet later this year and to deploy its millimeter-wave technology at its power plant in 2027.

Quaise raised $21 million in a Series A1 financing round in 2024 and a $52 million Series A in 2022. Major investors include Prelude Ventures, Safar Partners, Mitsubishi Corporation, Nabors Industries, TechEnergy and others.

Quaise was one of eight Houston-area companies to appear on Time magazine and Statista’s list of America’s Top GreenTech Companies of 2025.

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A View From HETI

ERock will provide equipment for 470 megawatts of capacity to Anthropic. Photo courtesy ERock

Two months after its $400 million IPO, Houston-based ERock (NYSE: EROC) has landed a power-generator deal with AI powerhouse Anthropic, owner of the Claude platform.

In its Q2 earnings report, ERock says it will provide equipment to Anthropic with a 470-megawatt capacity. ERock specializes in utility-grade, onsite microgrid power systems for data centers and other customers. The company previously did business as Enchanted Rock.

The Anthropic deal adds to ERock’s backlog of about $1.7 billion in orders—a figure representing a 1,000 percent year-over-year jump in backorders thanks in large part to the AI boom. ERock expects most of the backlog to convert to revenue by the end of 2027, said Ian Blakely, the company’s chief financial officer.

Bank of America analyst Ross Fowler says the Anthropic contract boosts confidence in ERock’s ability to secure other major deals, according to Traders Union. The Anthropic deal is ERock’s third major data center contract, with separate Anthropic deals for operations and maintenance services expected to follow, Fowler said.

CEO John Carrington says Anthropic’s order “reinforces the momentum” ERock is witnessing across its customer base.

“We are seeing a lot of interest in Texas. It seems to be the easiest place to get a site set up,” company President Corey Amthor said

In its Q2 earnings release—its first as a public company—ERock also reported:

  • Launching generator-assembly operations at its Hyperion equipment factory in Northwest Houston. The plant will expand ERock’s assembly capabilities to 1.2 gigawatts of capacity by the end of 2026.
  • Starting construction of a $473 million, 366-megawatt El Paso Electric natural-gas-powered plant to supply power for Meta Platforms’ $14 billion, 1,000-acre AI data center campus in El Paso. Meta is the parent company of the Facebook and Instagram social media companies.

“Meta gains access to an operational data center years earlier than may otherwise be possible, while El Paso Electric gains a flexible, low-cost, low-emissions grid asset that can support long-term system reliability,” Carrington said.

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