Mitsubishi owns the Italian business Turboden, which has announced a collaboration with Fervo Energy to leverage Turboden’s experience with Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) equipment to support Fervo Energy’s Cape Station project. For the first 90 MW of the project, Fervo claims that Turboden will supply the geothermal firm with engineering and procurement of power plant equipment, including the installation of three generators with six ORC turbines.

This news follows weeks after Houston-based Fervo Energy revealed a significant investment from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which helped the geothermal development company secure $244 million in finance to develop its carbon-free technologies.

Underwritten by a group of investors that includes Mitsubishi, Galvanize Climate Solutions, John Arnold, Liberty Mutual Investments, Marunouchi Innovation Partners, and Mercuria, the funding will help Fervo continue to develop the 400 megawatt Cape Station project in Utah, which is intended to provide clean energy to the grid by 2026.

“Demand for around-the-clock clean energy has never been higher, and next-generation geothermal is uniquely positioned to meet this demand,” said Tim Latimer, Fervo CEO and Co-Founder. “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.”

In June 2023, drilling for the ground-breaking project in Beaver County, Utah, started. Since then, it has proven to be remarkably successful, according to Fervo, exceeding the Department of Energy’s (DOE) expectations for enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) with a 70% reduction in drilling times and lower production costs.

The Houston area continues to lead the commercial deployment of transitional solutions, according to Jane Stricker, senior vice president of energy transition for the Partnership and executive director of the Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI). “The investment in Fervo Energy is a leading example of the growing number of strategic investments by energy and industrial companies into innovative startups with promising technologies.”

Houston’s energy transition ecosystem has received international recognition and attracted investors because to its profusion of forward-thinking businesses such as Fervo. In 2022, Houston-based energy transition startups, firms, and companies secured $6.1 billion in financing from private market investments, up 62% from 2021, according to a Partnership analysis.