Mazama Energy Achieves 331°C Geothermal Breakthrough, Targeting AI Power Needs

Mazama Energy, a company incubated by Khosla Ventures and backed by Gates Frontier, announced a significant technological leap in clean energy, achieving a record-breaking 629°F (331°C) bottomhole temperature at its Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) pilot site in Newberry, Oregon. This breakthrough, revealed on October 28, 2025, positions geothermal energy to scale comparably to oil and gas, offering a cost-effective and carbon-free power solution. Vinod Khosla stated in a tweet, > "We incubated Mazama to prove geothermal can scale like oil and gas —cost parity, clean and just as abundant. Today’s news marks a technological breakthrough, on the way to 450 deg C geothermal, to power the insatiable needs of AI and cloud infrastructure."

The achievement at the Newberry site represents the world's hottest EGS, setting a new global benchmark for geothermal technology. Mazama Energy's proprietary Thermal Lattice™ stimulation process, combined with advanced drilling techniques, enabled the successful creation of a geothermal reservoir with comprehensive connectivity between wells. This development is a critical step towards the company's ambitious goal of reaching 450°C geothermal resources.

Mazama Energy aims to deliver low-cost, carbon-free baseload power at a terawatt scale, targeting less than 5 cents per kilowatt-hour. Sriram Vasantharajan, CEO of Mazama Energy, emphasized, "With geothermal, you get global, round-the-clock energy that is carbon-free, cost-stable, and grid-independent." This constant, reliable energy supply contrasts with the intermittency of traditional renewables like solar and wind.

The company's advancements are particularly crucial for the escalating power demands of data centers and artificial intelligence workloads. By developing geothermal resources capable of operating at temperatures above 300°C, Mazama can provide continuous, high-density power 24/7, regardless of weather or time of day. This makes Mazama’s geothermal platform an ideal solution for hyperscale data centers and industrial electrification.

Mazama Energy is supported by a $36 million Series A funding round led by Khosla Ventures, alongside a $20 million grant from the Department of Energy. The company plans to advance to commercial projects, starting with a 15 MW pilot in 2026 and scaling to a 200 MW development project at Newberry. Future plans include extending drilling into the SuperHot Rock regime (over 400°C), which is projected to extract up to ten times more power density, use 75% less water, and require 80% fewer wells than current approaches.