Google is securing power sources in advance for its next wave of data center expansion. According to an agreement announced on Tuesday, the company will purchase 396 megawatts of electricity from Fervo’s Cape Station geothermal plant in Utah, USA, to support a planned new data center in the area.
The power plant is expected to be operational by 2028. Under the agreement, Google may also choose to purchase an additional 600 megawatts of electricity before June 2030. If all options are exercised, the scale of the partnership will continue to expand.
Corresponding to AI data center electricity demand
This transaction reflects large cloud computing companies' ongoing search for new power sources. As demand for AI training and inference rises, data centers' reliance on stable power supply has become increasingly evident, making access to electricity a critical component in expanding infrastructure for tech companies.
For years, Google has been a major buyer of clean energy in the United States, sourcing wind, solar, and storage projects to support its goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2030. However, in April of this year, Google signed a 933-megawatt natural gas power agreement with data center developer Crusoe, increasing pressure on its emissions reduction targets.
In comparison, the latest geothermal power purchase is seen as a move by Google to expand its AI computing capacity while maintaining its share of clean energy.
The Fervo project still has room for scaling.
Fervo has currently been approved to develop up to 2 gigawatts of geothermal power capacity at Cape Station. However, company executives previously stated that a third-party engineering assessment concluded that the site’s heat reservoir may be sufficient to support approximately twice that capacity.
If the project eventually expands to 4 gigawatts, its scale would be close to doubling the United States’ current geothermal power capacity. A recent report by the U.S. Department of Energy also notes that enhanced geothermal technologies can tap into deeper heat sources, theoretically significantly expanding the potential for geothermal power generation in the United States.
Google has been collaborating with Fervo for several years.
Google and Fervo are not collaborating for the first time. The two companies have worked together for over five years, and Google was one of Fervo’s early power purchasers. Google also participated in Fervo’s most recent funding round prior to its IPO.
In the capital markets, Fervo's stock rose on its first day of trading but subsequently lost those gains over the following months. Prompted by the news of Google's power purchase, Fervo's stock climbed approximately 30% on the previous trading day, followed by some profit-taking.