Fervo signs 396MW geothermal deal with Google for 2028 start

Photo of a Fervo Energy geothermal site under construction — **Fervo Energy geothermal site under construction**

*Credit: Fervo Energy Co.*

Image Credits — **Fervo Energy geothermal site under construction**

*Credit: Fervo Energy Co.*

Alphabet has contracted up to 396MW of geothermal power from Fervo Energy for a prospective Utah data centre from 2028, with an option on another 600MW by 2030 that would take the order close to a gigawatt. The European Union had about 1GW of net geothermal electricity capacity in total in 2022, and geothermal supplied 0.5% of its renewable electricity in 2024.

Google has contracted up to 396MW of geothermal power for a prospective Utah data centre. Deliveries start in 2028, with an option on another 600MW by 2030, Bloomberg reported.

That would take the order close to a gigawatt. Fervo shares rose as much as 25%, and its Cape Station project still needs Utah regulatory approval.

The comparison worth making is not with a reactor. The entire EU had about 1GW of net geothermal electricity capacity in 2022, the Commission records.

One contract for one data centre roughly equals the bloc’s installed fleet. Geothermal supplied 0.5% of EU renewable electricity in 2024.

Europe’s flagship next-generation plant is smaller than its reputation. Eavor’s closed loop at Geretsried in Bavaria is rated at about 8.2MW of electricity and 64MW of heat.

It is a genuine first even so. On 4 December 2025 it produced the world’s first electrons from closed-loop multilateral wells, drawn through 16km of continuous wellbore per pair.

Europe funded it properly as well. The EU Innovation Fund granted €91.6M and the European Investment Bank guaranteed a loan of close to €45M.

What Geretsried does not have is a customer like Google. Its output goes to district heating and the grid in a Bavarian town of 25,000 people.

That is the pattern rather than the exception. TNW reported last month that Europe has no comparable contracts with hyperscalers, even where the resource is good.

The policy gap is older than the demand. MEPs called on the Commission to present an EU geothermal strategy on 18 January 2024, with concrete guidance for member states.

It has not appeared. Geothermal runs through the renewables and energy efficiency directives and the Net-Zero Industry Act instead, while TNW has reported European hopes it might replace natural gas.

The demand is arriving regardless of the paperwork. Data centre load is growing across the continent, and it lands on the grid whether or not a strategy exists.

Brussels has told big tech to align AI data centres with its climate goals. It has not yet said where the clean round-the-clock power is supposed to come from.

Story by Alina Maria Stan

Alina Maria Stan builds connections that people actually feel. As co-founder and COO of Tekpon, she turns product intuition into real moment (show all) Alina Maria Stan builds connections that people actually feel. As co-founder and COO of Tekpon, she turns product intuition into real moments of discovery, shaping how teams find and adopt SaaS every day. Since 2020, she has led Tekpon’s brand voice, media strategy, and growth plays with a clear focus on human outcomes behind every metric. Before Tekpon, Alina followed curiosity across industries and countries. She was CEO of King Casino Bonus and led affiliate and brand strategy at Extremoo Media and Fable Media in Denmark, where she learned how to build partnerships that last. Early on, she sharpened her CRM and pricing instincts at K.H. ApS, always asking why customers choose what they choose. Her approach is rooted in more than a decade of international experience and two master’s degrees, one in Sustainable Consumption from the Technical University of Munich and one in Consumer Affairs Management from Aarhus University.