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Climate Tech • September 18, 2026

Mazama's $135M raise puts super-hot-rock geothermal back in the spotlight

The pitch is simple and huge: drill into hotter rock, pull up steady clean power, and make data-center-scale energy less weather-dependent.

Illustration of a geothermal drilling rig reaching hot rock below a data center grid
Image: Geekish-generated illustration based on TechCrunch's Mazama Energy reporting.
CLIMATE TECHGeekish sourced quick read

Original Geekish context based on the source linked below.

The short version

TechCrunch reports Mazama Energy raised $135 million to continue developing super-hot-rock geothermal. The company is drilling roughly three miles underground in Oregon and says one well could generate 15 MW of electricity around the clock.

Why this matters

Geothermal has a nerdy superpower: it can run day and night. If startups can make deeper, hotter wells work reliably, the technology could become a cleaner baseload option for power-hungry infrastructure, including AI data centers.

The hard part

Super-hot-rock projects still have to prove they can drill, operate, and scale without costs running away. The exciting part is the energy density; the test is whether that translates into repeatable projects outside a demo site.

Geekish take

This is the kind of infrastructure story that sits behind almost every flashy AI headline. Models, chips, and robots all need electricity. If geothermal can become more deployable, it gives the tech stack a less fragile power story.

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