Finance18 September, 20262 min read
Mazama Energy Raises $135 Million to Drill Superhot Geothermal Wells in Oregon
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Mazama Energy secured $135 million in an oversubscribed Series B funding round. Drill horizontal wells into superhot rocks near Oregon's Newberry Volcano, targeting 15 MW per well.
Mazama’s $135M geothermal push
Mazama Energy raised $135 million in an expanded Series B funding round to drill horizontal wells into superhot rock formations, aiming to unlock steady electricity for energy-hungry industries. The startup said each well could potentially generate up to 15 MW of electricity, and it plans to start power generation as early as next year.
TechCrunch reported Mazama plans to start generating electricity sometime next year and said its first site in Oregon is capable of producing 10 gigawatts of electricity. The company’s drilling approach targets depths of about 15,000 feet, where the rock temperature is expected to be around 750 degrees Fahrenheit, or approximately 400 degrees Celsius, and it describes the resulting “supercritical” state as enabling water to absorb far more energy than traditional steam.
Oregon capacity and timelines
Mazama’s Oregon plans were revised upward in the reporting, with TechCrunch saying the first site is capable of producing 10 gigawatts of electricity, up from investor Vinod Khosla’s estimate last year of 5 gigawatts. The Tech Buzz framed the same $135 million round as drilling “three miles underground” into superhot rock formations, and it said each well can generate 15 megawatts of electricity around the clock.
NewsBytes said the first site is now expected to launch next year with a huge 10-gigawatt capacity, and it added that Mazama aims for even bigger things by finishing the Oregon site by 2030. Canary Media reported that Mazama’s new funding includes an oversubscribed Series B led by Centaurus Capital and Doerr Capital, and it quoted Mazama CEO Sriram Vasantharajan saying, “Superhot rock is almost essential for geothermal to become cost-competitive with fossil fuels.”
Investors, partners, and stakes
The funding round was led by Centaurus Capital and Doerr Capital, with participation from ConocoPhillips and Shell Ventures, and it included existing investors Khosla Ventures and Gates Frontier. TechCrunch said Mazama was incubated at Khosla Ventures, while Canary Media quoted billionaire John Arnold saying, “Mazama has made impressive progress, and I am excited to support its next phase of development.”
“Mazama has made impressive progress, and I am excited to support its next phase of development.”
Canary Media also tied the money to Project Ceres, supported by the Department of Energy, where Mazama plans to drill horizontally to demonstrate the potential for 15 megawatts of clean electricity capacity from each well. The TechCrunch account said Mazama aims to complete development of the first site by 2030 and, at that point, says it should generate 200 megawatts of electricity, as it continues working in the early stages of its Oregon project.