Via ormat.com
The world's largest geothermal operator is borrowing fracking techniques to build clean power plants wherever AI data centers need them.
For six decades, Ormat Technologies built its geothermal empire the old-fashioned way: find a spot where the Earth is already venting heat, build a plant on top, sell the power. That approach made it the world’s largest geothermal operator, with approximately 1,835 MW of total capacity across geothermal, solar, and storage resources. Now the company is betting it can do something far more ambitious: build geothermal plants almost anywhere a customer wants one. Ormat’s pivot to Enhanced Geothermal Systems, or EGS, combines traditional geothermal expertise with oil-drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques to tap heat from deeper rock formations. AI data centers are devouring electricity across the Western US, and they need power that runs 24/7, not just when the sun shines or the wind blows.
Deals already on the table #
Ormat isn’t just theorizing about this future. It’s signing contracts. In February 2026, the company locked in a Power Purchase Agreement with NV Energy for up to 150 MW of geothermal capacity specifically earmarked for Google’s data centers in Nevada. That power is expected to come online between 2028 and 2030.
A separate 20-year PPA signed in January 2026 commits roughly 13 MW from Ormat’s Salt Wells plant in Nevada to Switch, the data center operator.
On the technology development side, Ormat has partnered with oilfield services giant SLB for an EGS pilot project at the Desert Peak site, with drilling permits targeting a Q4 2026 start. A second pilot is underway with Sage Geosystems. Both projects are designed to prove out whether EGS can scale economically before broader commercial deployment begins after 2028.
Ormat has secured over 10,642 acres in New Mexico for future EGS development.
New hardware for a new era #
In Q2 2026, Ormat unveiled the Ormega100, a modular 100 MW binary unit designed for deployment in both conventional geothermal and EGS applications.
Binary cycle technology works by using geothermal heat to vaporize a secondary working fluid with a lower boiling point than water, which then drives a turbine. The modular design means Ormat can manufacture these units at scale and ship them to wherever a new EGS well comes online, rather than custom-building each plant from scratch.
The financial picture #
Ormat’s Q2 2026 earnings reflected the optimism baked into this strategy. The company raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $1.15-1.20 billion.
The company’s broader target is aggressive: a generating portfolio of 2.6-2.8 GW by 2028. That would represent a roughly 50% increase from current capacity levels, with EGS projects expected to contribute a meaningful share of the growth beyond that timeline.
Geothermal runs around the clock with capacity factors typically above 90%, making it the closest thing renewables have to baseload power. Solar and wind are cheaper per megawatt-hour in many markets, but they produce power intermittently.
What to watch going forward #
The critical question is whether EGS can move from pilot to commercial scale at costs competitive with other firm power sources. Ormat’s partnerships with SLB and Sage Geosystems are designed to answer exactly these questions. If the Desert Peak pilot produces power at a cost that works economically, the company has already assembled the land, the hardware pipeline via Ormega100, and the customer relationships to scale quickly.
The competitive landscape is also evolving. Startups like Fervo Energy have raised significant venture capital for their own EGS approaches, and the US Department of Energy has been actively funding enhanced geothermal research.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our