JERA Ventures Invests in Quaise Energy for Superhot Geothermal Push

JERA Ventures Invests in Quaise Energy for Superhot Geothermal Push

Quick Reads

• JERA Ventures, the venture arm of Japan’s largest power company, has invested in Houston-based Quaise Energy to help scale up superhot geothermal drilling technology.

• The investment is part of Quaise’s $134 million Series B round, led by Prelude Ventures, which brings the startup’s total funding to $230 million and will fund its Project Obsidian plant in Oregon.

• Quaise uses MIT-developed millimeter wave drilling to reach extreme underground depths and temperatures, aiming to turn superhot rock into a global clean baseload energy source.

JERA Co., Inc., Japan’s largest power generation company, has made a fresh JERA Ventures Quaise Energy investment through its corporate venture capital arm, JERA Ventures, backing Houston-based Quaise Energy to push forward next-generation superhot geothermal technology.

The commitment forms part of Quaise’s Series B round, which closed its first tranche at $134 million, lifting the startup’s total capital raised to $230 million. Prelude Ventures led the round, with JERA joined by fellow Japanese energy major Idemitsu Kosan as strategic backers.

Quaise’s core innovation

Quaise’s core innovation is millimeter wave drilling, a technology developed over more than a decade of research at MIT, designed to reach extreme depths and temperatures far beyond conventional geothermal wells. The approach aims to unlock “superhot rock” as a scalable, clean baseload power source, capable of rivalling the output of fossil fuel and nuclear plants.

Proceeds will fund Project Obsidian in central Oregon, which Quaise describes as the world’s first commercial superhot geothermal power plant. The company’s drilling system is also approaching one kilometre of depth at a test site in Central Texas, after penetrating over 100 metres through granite in 2025.

Takeshi Kodama, Head of JERA Ventures and Managing Partner at JERA, said millimeter wave drilling could make geothermal “a truly global baseload resource,” adding that JERA looks forward to advancing the technology alongside Quaise.

The deal adds to JERA Ventures’ broader portfolio, which already spans electrolyzers, LFP batteries, and nuclear fusion, as the utility works toward net-zero COâ‚‚ emissions by 2050. For Quaise, the backing of two major Japanese energy players also opens the door to future opportunities in Japan’s own geothermal market.