Geothermal exec on Houston expansion, commercialization and more

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Axel-Pierre Bois, XGS Energy's Chief Technology Officer. Photo courtesy XGS Energy

Challenges in the energy transition often center around two questions: Where will organizations find the resources? And how will projects be financed?

XGS Energy's next-gen closed-loop geothermal well architecture addresses both issues head-on. The California-based company saw massive growth in the Houston market last year and recently completed a 100-meter field demonstration in central Texas, marking a major milestone for its technology's commercialization and potential for scale.

In an interview with EnergyCapital, Axel-Pierre Bois, XGS's Chief Technology Officer, shares what drew him to the geothermal space, why XGS is expanding in Houston and what the company's plans are for the year ahead.

How does XGS Energy's technology address the biggest challenges in geothermal energy?

XGS Energy is developing a geothermal system that decouples geothermal energy from its traditional dependence on water and geology to deliver affordable, clean energy anywhere there is hot rock.

Historically, geothermal resources have been hard to locate, as conventional systems require the overlap of hot rock, porous and permeable geology, and abundant water to produce energy, limiting their potential to a few select hot spots worldwide. Instead of relying on an underground fracture network that drives the geology and water requirements, the base component of XGS’s system is a single well, in which fluid is pumped to a hot rock resource and then returned to the surface through a tube-in-shell design, creating a sealed, closed loop. This allows XGS to produce geothermal energy anywhere where there is hot rock, unlocking terawatt-scale potential in the U.S. alone.

Geothermal systems have also struggled to secure project financing, as many systems have historically faced high levels of unplanned cost risk due to factors including water loss and production uncertainty. XGS’s sealed, closed-loop system ensures that it can provide reliable, predictable electricity throughout its lifespan. XGS also boosts the cost-competitiveness of its system through our major innovation, a proprietary thermally conductive materials system that is installed downhole around each well, increasing the heat transferred to the closed-loop system by 30-50%.

What has drawn you to a career in the geothermal energy space?

I have been in the subsurface industry for over 30 years, developing technical solutions for companies in the fields of geosciences, underground storage, upstream oil and gas, and geothermal heat harvesting to help improve their overall economic, ethical and environmental footprints. In 2009, I founded Curistec, a technology company providing research, engineering and technical services for geomechanics, wellbore integrity, well abandonment, cement design and cement and rock testing. A few years back, Curistec assisted with the Iceland Deep Drilling Project, helping to develop cement formulations for superhot geothermal well applications to enable drilling in high-temperature environments. As I looked toward the future, it became clear that next-generation geothermal technologies would transform the geothermal energy industry and open new markets worldwide. Curistec had been working closely with the XGS Energy team as technology partners for several years, so joining the team directly to help shape the technology development was an exciting opportunity to help develop and deploy a new system to unlock the full terawatt-scale potential of geothermal energy.

Tell us about the 100-meter field demonstration in central Texas completed in 2024 — what all did you and your team learn from the test?

Our 100-meter field demonstration in central Texas marked a significant step in our progress toward deploying geothermal energy in a commercial setting. With this field operation, we successfully demonstrated our ability to mix, pump and place our thermally conductive materials system at a commercial scale, using off-shelf tools and technologies. This was a significant milestone, taking us from theoretical models and laboratory tests to field-scale operations, proving that our novel geothermal system is operationally viable in real-world well conditions.

The completion of the Texas field demonstration advanced XGS into the new wave of geothermal innovators that are putting real steel in the ground. In 2024, we kicked off construction at our commercial-scale demonstration in California and are excited to share updates in the year ahead.

Last year, XGS Energy leased over 10,000 square feet of office space in Memorial City. How has Houston's business community and opportunities benefitted the company?

Houston, the epicenter of the oil and gas industry, has become a hub of energy innovation, offering attractive incentives for growing companies like XGS. The region’s workforce, which is home to some of the best subsurface engineers and operational talent in the energy sector, was a key factor for XGS when we were planning our operational roadmap. This expertise, paired with proximity to our partners in the field services industries, like cementing and drilling, is both apracticaland tactical advantage for XGS.

We’ve built a strong technical and operational team here at XGS, with experience from the oil and gas industry, utilities and power project developers. XGS is planning for continued growth in the Houston area, leveraging the region’s leading engineering and operational workforce and its intensifying interest in supporting the energy transition.

What are XGS Energy's goals for 2025?

In 2024, the XGS Energy team made significant progress toward our goal of providing clean, round-the-clock energy with our solid-state geothermal system. In 2025, XGS Energy will be focused on deploying its geothermal system at a commercial scale, starting with the completion of our full-scale prototype in California. XGS will also continue accelerating our commercial traction, expanding our already robust and highly differentiated geothermal resource evaluation toolkit, advancing our global project pipeline, and growing our team to strengthen our operational capability and capacity.

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The Meta and Sage Geosystems project is reportedly the first next-generation geothermal project located to the east of the Rocky Mountains. Rendering by Sage Geosystems and Meta

Meta taps Houston geothermal co. to power data center growth with clean energy

big tech

A Houston company has signed a new agreement with Meta Platforms Inc. — Facebook's parent company — to power the tech giant's data center growth.

Houston-based Sage Geosystems agreed to deliver up to 150 megawatts of new geothermal baseload power to Meta. The companies made the announcement this week at the United States Department Energy’s Catalyzing Next Generation Geothermal Development Workshop.

The deal is significant because it's the first next-generation geothermal project located to the east of the Rocky Mountains, the companies report in a news release.

“This announcement is the perfect example of how the public and private sector can work together to make the clean energy transition a reality,” Cindy Taff, CEO of Sage Geosystems, says in the release. “We are thrilled to be at the forefront of the next generation of geothermal technology and applaud the DOE for supporting the commercialization of innovation solutions.

"As energy demand continues to grow, the need for reliable, resilient and sustainable power is paramount and our partnership with Meta underscores the critical need for innovative and sustainable energy solutions like ours,” she continues.

The project's first phase will aim to be operating in 2027. The plans reflect how geothermal is being recognized as a growing carbon-free energy source in the country, and how Meta is committed to clean energy initiatives.

“The U.S. has seen unprecedented growth in demand for energy as our economy grows, the manufacturing sector booms thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, and new industries like AI expand,” U.S. Energy Deputy Secretary David Turk says. “The Administration views this increased demand as a huge opportunity to add more clean, firm power to the grid and geothermal energy is a game-changeras we work to grow our clean power supply.”

Sage's technology — called Geopressured Geothermal System — works deep in the earth to develop energy storage and geothermal baseload power.

“Meta thanks the Department of Energy’s leadership on promoting and supporting the exploration of new energy sources like geothermal," Urvi Parekh, head of renewable energy at Meta, says. "That leadership supports Meta’s goal to enable the addition of reliable, affordable, and carbon-free power to the grid with this geothermal energy deal. We are excited to partner with such an innovative company like Sage Geosystems that is a proven leader in geothermal development on this project and beyond.”

Sage recently teamed up with a utility provider for an energy storage facility in the San Antonio metro area to build its three-megawatt EarthStore facility.

The company is also working on an exploratory geothermal project for the Army’s Fort Bliss post in Texas, which is the third U.S. Department of Defense geothermal initiative in the Lone Star State.

GA Drilling opened its Houston office in 2013 to tap into the region’s oil and gas industry. Photo via Getty Images

Drilling tech co. with Houston HQ to partner on European geothermal power plant

growing abroad

GA Drilling, a provider of geothermal drilling technology whose U.S. headquarters is in Houston, is teaming up with a European energy company to develop a geothermal power plant in Germany.

GA Drilling and ZeroGeo Energy, a Swiss company specializing in renewable energy, say the 12-megawatt Hot Dry Rock Geothermal Power Plant (Project THERMO) is the first of several geothermal power and geothermal energy storage projects they’re planning in Europe. GA Drilling will supply technology for Hot Dry Rock, and ZeroGEO will operate the plant.

“The need for clean baseload power is real, and geothermal has the highest potential to deliver that safely and securely. We’re excited to be collaborating with ZeroGeo to help address the power needs in Europe,” Dusan Kocis, co-founder and chief operating officer of Slovakia-based GA Drilling, says in a news release.

GA Drilling opened its Houston office in 2013 to tap into the region’s oil and gas industry.

Last year, GA Drilling conducted the first public demonstration of its latest deep drilling tool, ANCHORBIT. GA Drilling says it developed the tool to cut the cost of deep geothermal drilling by doubling drilling speeds and extending the life of drill bits.

GA Drilling performed the ANCHORBIT test at Nabors Industries’ technology center in Houston. Nabors, a drilling contractor based in Houston, is using GA Drilling’s technology in its drilling operations.

In 2022, Nabors invested $8 million in GA Drilling.

“Given the expected sharp growth in global energy consumption over the next decades, the world will require an even sharper growth in sustainable energy supply. I am convinced that geothermal energy will be a key contributor to the necessary increase in clean energy generation,” Anthony Petrello, chairman, president, and CEO of Nabors, said in an announcement about the GA Drilling investment.

Fervo Energy scored a $244 million round of funding thanks to existing and new investors. Photo via Fervo Energy

Devon Energy leads Houston geothermal startup's $244M funding round

ready to dig

An Oklahoma-based shale oil and gas leader has backed Fervo Energy's latest round of funding, supporting the startup's geothermal technology yet again.

Fervo announced its latest round of funding this week to the tune of $244 million. The round was led by Devon Energy, a company that's previously backed the startup.

“Demand for around-the-clock clean energy has never been higher, and next-generation geothermal is uniquely positioned to meet this demand,” Tim Latimer, Fervo CEO and co-founder, says in a news release. “Our technology is fully derisked, our pricing is already competitive, and our resource pipeline is vast. This investment enables Fervo to continue to position geothermal at the heart of 24/7 carbon-free energy production.”

Founded in 2017, Fervo provides carbon-free energy through development of next-generation geothermal power. The company has recently reported its success at its Cape Station project, a400 MW project in Beaver County, Utah, as well as at its full-scale commercial pilot, Project Red, in northern Nevada and made possible through a 2021 partnership with Google.

Galvanize Climate Solutions, John Arnold, Liberty Mutual Investments, Marunouchi Innovation Partners, Mercuria, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries also contributed to the round with existing investors Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund, Congruent Ventures, DCVC, Elemental Excelerator, Helmerich & Payne, and Impact Science Ventures.

“The energy trilemma is one of the defining global challenges of our time; how can we generate power that is affordable, reliable, and clean,” Houstonian John Arnold, founder of Centaurus Capital and co-chair of Arnold Ventures, says in the release. “Fervo has transformed geothermal into a scalable carbon-free resource ready to meet the moment.”

The fresh funding, according to the company, will go toward Fervo’s work in Cape Station, that is slated to begin delivering clean electricity to the grid in 2026.

“Fervo’s approach to geothermal development leverages leading-edge subsurface, drilling, and completions expertise and techniques Devon has been honing for decades,” David Harris, chief corporate development officer and executive vice president at Devon, says in the release. “We look forward to deepening our partnership with Fervo to capture the full value of Fervo’s first-mover advantage in geothermal and the adjacencies to Devon’s core business.”

In 2022, Fervo raised a $138 million series C round to support the completion of power plants in Nevada and Utah and evaluate new projects in California, Idaho, Oregon, Colorado, and New Mexico, as well as in other countries. This latest investment brings the company's total funds raised to $431 million since its inception in 2017, according to Crunchbase.

Fervo Energy's Project Red with Google is officially operational. Photo via blog.google

Houston geothermal company's Google facility in Nevada goes online

up and running

Google is on a mission to run all of its data centers and office campuses on constant carbon-free energy by 2030, and the tech giant is one step closer to that goal.

Last week, Google announced that its 24/7 carbon-free energy, or CFE, in Nevada to power its local data center in the state is officially operational. The facility is powered by Houston-based Fervo Energy's geothermal technology, a project — called Project Red — that began in 2021 and celebrated its successful pilot this summer.

"When we began our partnership with Fervo, we knew that a first-of-a-kind project like this would require a wide range of technical and operational innovations," Michael Terrell, senior director of energy and climate at Google, writes in a blog post about the partnership.

Fervo relies on tried and true drilling techniques from the oil and gas industry, accessing heat energy that previously has been elusive to traditional geothermal methods, Terrell continues. Fervo dug two horizontal wells at the Nevada plant, as well as installed fiber-optic cables to capture data that tracks performance and other key information.

"The result is a geothermal plant that can produce round-the-clock CFE using less land than other clean energy sources and drawing on skills, knowledge, and supply chains that exist in other industries," Terrell says. "From our early commitment to support the project’s development to its successful completion, we’ve worked closely with Fervo to overcome obstacles and prove that this technology can work."

Google also recently announced a partnership with Project InnerSpace, a nonprofit focused on global geothermal energy development.

Fervo is working on another nearby project, the company announced in September. The 400-milliwatt geothermal energy project in Cape Station, Utah, will start delivering carbon-free power to the grid in 2026, with full-scale production beginning in 2028.

The project, in southwest Utah, is about 240 miles southwest of Salt Lake City and about 240 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Cape Station is adjacent to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) and near the Blundell geothermal power plant.

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Houston companies scoop up $31 million in funds from DOE, EPA methane emissions program

fresh funds

The U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the selection of seven projects from Houston companies to receive funding through the Methane Emissions Reduction Program.

The projects are among 43 others nationwide, including 12 from Texas, that reduce, monitor, measure, and quantify methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. The DOE and EPA awarded $850 million in total through the program.

The Houston companies picked up $31.7 million in federal funding through the program in addition to more than $9.5 million in non-federal dollars.

“I’m excited about the opportunities these will create internally but even more so the creation of jobs and training opportunities for the communities in which we work,” Scott McCurdy, Encino Environmental Services CEO, said in a news release. His company received awards for two projects.

“These projects will allow us to further support and strengthen the U.S. Energy industry’s ability to deliver clean, reliable, and affordable energy globally,” he added.

The Houston-area awards included:

DaphneTech USA LLC

Total funding: $5.8 million (approximately $4.5 million in federal, $1.3 million in non-federal)

The award was granted for the company’s Daphne and Williams Methane Slip Abatement Plasma-Catalyst Scale-Up project. Daphne will study how its SlipPure technology, a novel exhaust gas cleaning system that abates methane and exhaust gas pollution from natural gas-fueled engines, can be economically viable across multiple engine types and operating conditions.

Baker Hughes Energy Transition LLC

Total funding: $7.47 million (approximately $6 million in federal, $1.5 million in non-federal)

The award was granted for the company’s Advancing Low Cost CH4 Emissions Reduction from Flares through Large Scale Deployment of Retrofittable and Adaptive Technology project. The project aims to develop a scalable, integrated methane emissions reduction system for flares based on optical gas imaging and estimation algorithms.

Encino Environmental Services

Total funding: $15.17 million (approximately $11 million in federal, $4.17 million in non-federal)

The award was granted for two projects. The Advanced Methane Reduction System: Integrating Infrared and Visual Imaging to Assess Net Heating Value at the Combustion Zone and Determine Combustion Efficiency to Enhance Flaring Performance project aims to develop and deploy an advanced continuous emissions monitoring system. It’s Advancing Methane Emissions Reduction through Innovative Technology project will develop and deploy a technology using sensors and composite materials to address emissions originating in storage tanks.

Envana Software Solutions

Total funding: $5.26 million (approximately $4.2 million in federal, $1 million in non-federal)

The award was granted for the company’s Leak Detection and Reduction Software to Identify Methane Emissions and Trigger Mitigation at Oil and Gas Production Facilities Based on SCADA Data project. It aims to improve its Recon software for monitoring methane emissions and develop partnerships with local universities and organizations.

Capwell Services Inc.

Total funding: $4.19 million (approximately $3.3 million in federal, $837,000 in non-federal)

The award was granted for its Methane Emissions Abatement Technology for Low-Flow and Intermittent Emission Sources project. It aims to to deploy and field-test a methane abatement unit and improve air quality and health outcomes for communities near production facilities and establish field technician internships for local residents.

Blue Sky Measurements

Total funding: $3.41 million (approximately $2.7 million in federal, $683,000 in non-federal)

The award was granted for its Field Validation of Novel Fixed Position Optical Sensor for Fugitive Methane Emission Detection Quantification and Location with Real-Time Notification for Rapid Mitigation project. It aims to field test an optical sensing technology at six well sites in the Permian Basin.

Southern Methodist University, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and Hyliion Inc. were other Texas-based organizations to earn awards. See the full list of projects here.

Texas university's 'WaterHub' will dramatically reduce water usage by 40%

Sustainable Move

A major advancement in sustainability is coming to one Texas university. A new UT WaterHub at the University of Texas at Austin will be the largest facility of its kind in the U.S. and will transform how the university manages its water resources.

It's designed to work with natural processes instead of against them for water savings of an estimated 40 percent. It's slated for completion in late 2027.

The university has had an active water recovery program since the 1980s. Still, water is becoming an increasing concern in Austin. According to Texas Living Waters, a coalition of conservation groups, Texas loses enough water annually to fill Lady Bird Lake roughly 89 times over.

As Austin continues to expand and face water shortages, the region's water supply faces increased pressure. The UT WaterHub plans to address this challenge by recycling water for campus energy operations, helping preserve water resources for both the university and local communities.

The 9,600-square-foot water treatment facility will use an innovative filtration approach. To reduce reliance on expensive machinery and chemicals, the system uses plants to naturally filter water and gravity to pull it in the direction it needs to go. Used water will be gathered from a new collection point near the Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium and transported to the WaterHub, located in the heart of the engineering district. The facility's design includes a greenhouse viewable to the public, serving as an interactive learning space.

Beyond water conservation, the facility is designed to protect the university against extreme weather events like winter storms. This new initiative will create a reliable backup water supply while decreasing university water usage, and will even reduce wastewater sent to the city by up to 70 percent.

H2O Innovation, UT’s collaborator in this project, specializes in water solutions, helping organizations manage their water efficiently.

"By combining cutting-edge technology with our innovative financing approach, we’re making it easier for organizations to adopt sustainable water practices that benefit both their bottom line and the environment, paving a step forward in water positivity,” said H2O Innovation president and CEO Frédéric Dugré in a press release.

The university expects significant cost savings with this project, since it won't have to spend as much on buying water from the city or paying fees to dispose of used water. Over the next several years, this could add up to millions of dollars.

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A version of this story originally appeared on our sister site, CultureMap Austin.

Report: Texas solar power, battery storage helped stabilize grid in summer 2024, but challenges remain

by the numbers

Research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas shows that solar power and battery storage capacity helped stabilize Texas’ electric grid last summer.

Between June 1 and Aug. 31, solar power met nearly 25 percent of midday electricity demand within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) power grid. Rising solar and battery output in ERCOT assisted Texans during a summer of triple-digit heat and record load demands, but the report fears that the state’s power load will be “pushed to its limits” soon.

The report examined how the grid performed during more demanding hours. At peak times, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the summer of 2024, solar output averaged nearly 17,000 megawatts compared with 12,000 megawatts during those hours in the previous year. Between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., discharge from battery facilities averaged 714 megawatts in 2024 after averaging 238 megawatts for those hours in 2023. Solar and battery output have continued to grow since then, according to the report.

“Batteries made a meaningful contribution to what those shoulder periods look like and how much scarcity we get into during these peak events,” ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas said at a board of directors conference call.

Increases in capacity from solar and battery-storage power in 2024 also eclipsed those of 2023. In 2023 ECOT added 4,570 megawatts of solar, compared to adding nearly 9,700 megawatts in 2024. Growth in battery storage capacity also increased from about 1,500 megawatts added in 2023 to more than 4,000 megawatts added in 2024. Natural gas capacity also saw increases while wind capacity dropped by about 50 percent.

Texas’ installation of utility-scale solar surpassed California’s in the spring of last year, and jumped from 1,900 megawatts in 2019 to over 20,000 megawatts in 2024 with solar meeting about 50 percent of Texas' peak power demand during some days.

While the numbers are encouraging, the report states that there could be future challenges, as more generating capacity will be required due to data center construction and broader electrification trends. The development of generating more capacity will rely on multiple factors like price signals and market conditions that invite more baseload and dispatchable generating capacity, which includes longer-duration batteries, and investment in power purchase agreements and other power arrangements by large-scale consumers, according to the report.

Additionally, peak demand during winter freezes presents challenges not seen in the summer. For example, in colder months, peak electricity demand often occurs in the early morning before solar energy is available, and it predicts that current battery storage may be insufficient to meet the demand. The analysis indicated a 50% chance of rolling outages during a cold snap similar to December 2022 and an 80% chance if conditions mirror the February 2021 deep freeze at the grid’s current state.

The report also claimed that ERCOT’s energy-only market design and new incentive structures, such as the Texas Energy Fund, do not appear to be enough to meet the predicted future magnitude and speed of load growth.

Read the full report here.

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