Quaise raises $180M for millimeter-wave geothermal drilling — NRG-IA

Beneath almost every region of the planet lies enough heat to generate energy. The problem is that, in most places, it is located miles underground, far beyond the depths where conventional drilling remains simple and inexpensive. Quaise Energy is trying to redefine this very limit. The MIT spin-off uses high-power millimeter electromagnetic waves to ablate rock , rather than relying solely on the mechanical contact of a drill bit. After demonstrating a 118-meter drill through granite under field conditions in 2025, Quaise has now secured a $180 million Series B round, bringing its total funding to approximately $280 million . The next step is no longer a laboratory record. In Oregon, the company is developing Project Obsidian , an initiative designed to scale the technology toward a 50 MW net geothermal plant and, in subsequent planned phases, to approximately 250 MW . If this transition succeeds, the stakes go far beyond a new drilling method. Economical access to superhot rock could expand geothermal energy beyond privileged volcanic regions and add a renewable source to the power system that can generate electricity day, night, summer, and winter, regardless of wind or clouds . Earth's heat is almost everywhere. Accessing it is the hard part Geothermal energy possesses one of the most attractive characteristics among renewables: it can operate almost continuously. Globally, existing plants have maintained an average capacity factor of over 75% , according to the International Energy Agency, far exceeding the global averages of wind and solar. A geothermal plant can keep producing on a windless night and adjust its output to meet grid demands. Today, however, geothermal accounts for less than 1% of global energy demand. The reason is not a lack of heat within the Earth, but the distribution of economically accessible temperatures. Iceland, Kenya, Indonesia, parts of the United States, Türkiye, and Italy benefit from favorable geological conditions where the useful thermal resource lies relatively close to the surface. In many other regions, the same temperatures exist only much deeper. Next-generation geothermal technologies aim to turn this geographical limitation into an engineering problem: if we can drill deep enough at a reasonable cost, the number of areas where geothermal becomes viable will increase radically . The IEA estimates that geothermal resources accessible with advanced drilling technologies down to about 8 km offer enormous technical potential and can geographically expand this source to almost every country. Quaise replaces mechanical contact with energy transmitted from the surface The Quaise principle is spectacular precisely because it shifts the location of the machinery's most sophisticated components. A conventional drill bit must carry mechanical equipment all the way to the bottom of the well. At great depths, temperature, pressure, and rock hardness increase the stress on components, making their replacement increasingly difficult and costly. In the Quaise system, the primary energy generator—the gyrotron —remains at the surface. The gyrotron produces high-power millimeter electromagnetic waves. This energy is transmitted through a waveguide to the bottom of the hole and focused on the rock. The rock is intensely heated and ablated, and the resulting material is swept to the surface by a gas purge. The idea stems from a field seemingly unrelated to drilling: nuclear fusion . Gyrotrons have been used for decades in fusion research to heat plasma. MIT researcher Paul Woskov proposed using the same technology for geothermal drilling, a concept that laid the foundation for Quaise. In its commercial form, the solution does not aim to eliminate the drill bit entirely. The strategy is hybrid: conventional mechanical drilling is used where it remains efficient, while millimeter waves are designed to take over in deep, hard, and hot zones where their advantage becomes paramount. 118 meters in granite demonstrated the principle in the field In 2025, Quaise transitioned from laboratory experiments to a field test in real granite in Texas. The system drilled 118 meters , and MIT reported drilling speeds of up to approximately 5 meters per hour in subsequent demonstrations. While this figure is modest compared to the kilometers required for a deep geothermal plant, it shifts the technology's readiness level. Millimeter waves have proven they can penetrate a real mass of granite outside the lab. Now, the scale must be multiplied dozens of times over. Quaise's previously announced goal was to transition to kilometer-scale demonstrations, and the latest MIT update continues to use the 118-meter mark as the confirmed public benchmark. The test that matters from here on is not just another slightly deeper hole. It is demonstrating an architecture capable of operating miles deep and then turning that hole into a viable energy well for years to come. $180 million moves the project toward the…