The company achieved a technical milestone in 2025 at its Newberry, Oregon site by creating an engineered geothermal system operating at 629 degrees Fahrenheit, the hottest EGS on record. Mazama’s second well, Project Athena, reached 10,350 feet in 15 days during September 2026, an 80 percent improvement in drilling speed compared to the previous year’s well. The accelerated drilling performance reduces capital costs and demonstrates the repeatability required for commercial deployment.
At target depths, high pressure converts water into a supercritical fluid that absorbs substantially more energy than conventional steam. Mazama projects each well will generate up to 10 times more power than traditional geothermal installations operating at 390 degrees Fahrenheit. This energy density allows the company to complete projects using 75 percent less water and drilling 80 percent fewer wells than conventional geothermal developments, shrinking surface infrastructure requirements and simplifying permitting.
The fresh funding will support Project Ceres, backed by the U.S. Department of Energy, which aims to demonstrate power generation in 2027 and validate the pathway to 15 megawatts per well. Mazama has revised upward its Newberry resource estimate from 5 gigawatts to 10 gigawatts and targets independent certification of the resource potential while evaluating additional sites domestically and internationally. The company plans to complete the first Newberry development phase by 2030 with 200 megawatts of generating capacity.
Enhanced geothermal systems are emerging as contenders for 24/7 baseload power as utilities face mounting demand from AI data centers and electrification. According to University of Twente and Clean Air Task Force analysis, tapping just one percent of global superhot rock resources could yield more than 63 terawatts of electricity generation capacity.
This article was curated and published as part of our South American energy market coverage.
