Fervo Energy on Sept. 1 announced a 396-megawatt power purchase agreement with Google to enable the continued development of the Cape Station enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) GeoCluster, expected to come online in 2028. The deal covers the Cape Station EGS GeoCluster in Beaver County, Utah. The agreement, structured as a long-term offtake contract, represents the largest enhanced geothermal PPA to date, following a 320-MW PPA also signed by Fervo with Southern California Edison in 2024.
Record deal terms and options
Under the agreement, Google will purchase carbon-free energy designed to serve as a foundational building block for a potential data center in Utah. As part of the PPA, Fervo will offer Google an option to expand its offtake by approximately 600 MW, for a total of nearly 1 GW, by June 2030.
Final data center plans remain subject to a variety of factors including engineering feasibility, state and local approvals, and commercial conditions. The deal unlocks new, around-the-clock electricity capacity at no cost to existing ratepayers.
Fervo’s press release, published alongside a Form 8-K filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, shows the contract was signed on August 26 between Cape Generating Station 6 LLC, a Fervo subsidiary, and Google Energy LLC, an Alphabet subsidiary, with parent-company guarantees from both companies.
Fervo had already signed a 3 GW framework agreement with Google Energy in March 2026, covering potential offtake for existing and planned data centers in both grid-connected and behind-the-meter configurations. The September PPA was not signed under that framework. Fervo says the 600 MW Cape Station expansion option would be the first deal to fall fully under it, if Google exercises it.
Cape Station project structure
Fervo is building 500 MW across the first two phases of Cape Station. Cape Station is located in Beaver County, Utah, approximately 12 miles northeast of Milford. Fervo describes it as the largest enhanced geothermal system built to date. Phase I is on track to begin delivering clean power to the grid by late 2026, reaching approximately 100 megawatts of operating capacity by early 2027.
Phase I comprises three 33 MW GeoBlocks, with the first unit mechanically complete and initial power scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026. The remaining two units are scheduled for early 2027. The 400 MW second phase entered construction during the first quarter of 2026 and is scheduled for commercial operation in 2028.
Cape Station Phase I is being built at about $7,000 per kilowatt, while Phase II is expected to cost roughly $5,500 per kilowatt. Fervo is targeting $3,000 per kilowatt over time as longer laterals and standardized 50 MW plants reduce development costs.
This PPA is part of the ongoing expansion of Cape Station beyond its initial 100 MW phase, as Fervo further scales its operations and continues driving down development costs through standardized, repeatable GeoBlock execution.
A heat-in-place study by DeGolyer and MacNaughton, combined with internal thermal recovery estimates, puts the site’s potential at about 4.3 GW. The DOE’s digital-twin work with PNNL and NVIDIA, aimed at running EGS reservoirs in real time, has been closely tied to the Cape Station buildout.
Data center demand reshaping geothermal investment
Growing demand from data centers across the United States is placing significant pressure on the grid around the clock. Unlike solar or wind, enhanced geothermal produces firm, dispatchable baseload power regardless of weather, making it attractive to hyperscalers that need guaranteed uptime.
The EIA has previously highlighted EGS as a technology capable of delivering continuous generation. The DOE’s Geothermal Center opened earlier this month is specifically targeting gigawatt-scale output to meet that demand.
Before this deal, Fervo and Google had previously signed a 115-MW power purchase agreement with Las Vegas-based utility NV Energy to develop more geothermal supply for Google in Nevada, tied to the Clean Transition Tariff and designed to increase geothermal supply without affecting rates for other customers.
Rystad Energy has projected global investment in geothermal could reach nearly $9 billion by 2030, up from about $1.4 billion in 2020. The Sept. 1 announcement sets a new commercial benchmark for the sector, as EGS developers seek to demonstrate that the technology can be financed, contracted, and built at utility scale.
