Fervo becomes clean energy’s biggest-ever IPO with $10B valuation—powered by the earth’s heat and AI’s hunger

Houston geothermal startup Fervo scored Wall Street’s biggest clean energy IPO ever, and its stock opened 35% higher on May 13 for a market cap above $10 billion. Bill Gates-backed Fervo aims to take the nascent industry mainstream to power the AI boom in short order. The technology combines old-school geothermal science with modern oil-drilling and fracking techniques to develop reservoirs and power plants anywhere the customers want—as opposed to traditional geothermal power, dating back over 100 years, which relies on naturally occurring reservoirs. “Geothermal is resonating because it’s a proven technology,” Fervo cofounder and CEO Tim Latimer, 36, told Fortune. “With the amount of growth going on in power right now, there’s going to be a lot of everything built, but the product offering we have is 24-7, carbon-free, and can be built quickly. I think it’s very unique.” After raising $1.89 billion in an upsized IPO—‌70 million shares at $27 apiece, up from an initial range of $21 to $24—shares quickly spiked to a close of $36.54 on their first day of trading. That easily exceeded the April IPO of next-generation nuclear startup X-energy, backed by Amazon. Fervo is different type of next gen, also known as enhanced geothermal systems (EGS, not to be confused with ESG), designed to address the scalability limitations of traditional geothermal. Named from the Latin word meaning “to boil,” Fervo’s technology utilizes water heated underground to generate steam for electricity-producing turbines, then pumps the cooled water back into the subsurface to be reheated and recycled. Fervo brought a pilot plant for Google online in Nevada three years ago and is currently building its first commercial plant in Utah, called Cape Station. The 500-megawatt project—enough to power nearly 400,000 homes—will begin delivering some power by year’s end and come fully online in 2028. Southern California Edison is the primary customer. “Whether it’s utility companies or