US Quaise Completes $180 Million Financing to Build What Is Claimed to Be the World's First Superhot Geothermal Plant

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 27, Quaise Energy completed the final closing of its Series B equity financing, raising a cumulative $180 million in this round, with Nabors Industries investing $35 million. Following the financing, Quaise Energy's total cumulative funding increased to $280 million. The proceeds from this round will be used to advance the Project Obsidian superhot geothermal power project in Oregon and to continue developing a millimeter-wave drilling system designed for depths exceeding 5 kilometers.

The first tranche of this financing round was completed in July, raising $134 million, led by Prelude Ventures, with participation from JERA and Idemitsu Kosan, among others. Following the completion of this $35 million investment, Nabors has become Quaise Energy's largest shareholder, holding a 14% stake on a fully diluted basis; Nabors completed the investment by issuing approximately 392,000 shares of common stock. The two parties have also established a strategic cooperation framework covering drilling operations, technology integration, and commercial development, including an exclusive arrangement under which Nabors will provide drilling services for Quaise's geothermal projects.

Project Obsidian is located in central Oregon, USA, where a Nabors PACE-B rig is currently conducting drilling operations at the project site. Quaise Energy plans to first use conventional rotary drilling to reach bedrock, then employ a high-power millimeter-wave system to continue drilling to greater depths; the technology used in the project targets rock formations at temperatures between 300°C and 500°C. The Series B financing will also be used to advance the commercialization target depth of the millimeter-wave drilling system to beyond 5 kilometers.

The first phase of Project Obsidian targets an installed capacity of 50 MW, with subsequent project plans to expand the scale to 250 MW and further advance toward over 1 GW. The first phase includes two geothermal well systems, one targeting rock formations with a maximum temperature of 365°C and the other up to 415°C; the project also includes a confirmation well to obtain data such as geomechanical properties of deep rock formations. Quaise Energy plans to achieve commercial operation of Project Obsidian around 2030.