Supercritical CO2 Geothermal Power System GeoDeep Breaks Through 10,000-Meter Drilling Depth: Geothermal Energy Accessible Under Any Geological Conditions

Supercritical CO2 Geothermal Power System GeoDeep Breaks Through 10,000-Meter Drilling Depth: Geothermal Energy Accessible Under Any Geological Conditions

On August 2, 2030, U.S.-based Fervo Energy announced that its GeoDeep supercritical CO2 geothermal power system successfully drilled to a depth of 12,000 meters in Nevada, achieving the first commercial power generation from supercritical geothermal fluids in granite bedrock. The system generates 50 megawatts of power, enough to supply approximately 30,000 households.

Traditional geothermal power generation relies on natural hot water reservoirs, which limits geothermal energy development to specific geological regions such as Iceland and the East African Rift Valley. GeoDeep uses CO2 in a supercritical state as its working fluid instead of water — at 12,000 meters depth, temperatures exceed 400 degrees Celsius and pressures exceed 300 atmospheres, placing the CO2 in a supercritical state with extremely high thermal conductivity and fluidity.

"Supercritical CO2 geothermal breaks the geographic limitations of geothermal energy," said Fervo Energy CEO Tim Latimer. "As long as you drill deep enough, the Earth's crust anywhere has sufficient heat. Our technology makes geothermal energy possible under any geological conditions."

The key technical innovation of GeoDeep is its "closed-loop enhanced geothermal system" — CO2 circulates between injection wells and production wells, absorbing heat from rock through thermal exchange, without requiring natural groundwater reservoirs. This design also eliminates the induced seismicity risk associated with traditional geothermal systems.

The system's power generation cost is 4.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, already below the average cost of natural gas power generation. Fervo Energy estimates that if GeoDeep's technology were deployed nationwide, U.S. geothermal resources alone could meet more than 10 times the country's electricity demand.

However, drilling technology requirements at 12,000 meters depth are extremely demanding, with each well costing approximately $50 million and taking about six months to complete. Fervo Energy is collaborating with the U.S. Department of Energy to develop next-generation drilling technology, with the goal of reducing drilling costs by 50%.