XGS Energy and Meta Platforms Partner for Advanced Geothermal Power Project in New Mexico

XGS Energy, a startup pioneering advanced geothermal technologies, has partnered with Meta Platforms to develop a 150 MW geothermal power project in New Mexico. The collaboration represents a bold wager on the potential of next-generation geothermal to deliver clean, reliable baseload power at scale.

For Meta, the project supports the company’s rapidly expanding AI workloads, aggressive renewable energy targets, and broader push to decarbonize the grid. For XGS, it’s a proving ground for its proprietary, water-independent geothermal system, designed to deliver dispatchable, emissions-free energy without relying on traditional hydrothermal resources.

If successful, the initiative could mark a pivotal moment: the point at which enhanced geothermal shifts from an emerging technology to a cornerstone of future clean energy portfolios.

XGS CEO Josh Prueher lauded the partnership, saying:

Closed-Loop EGS Could Unlock Scalable, Reliable Power for Data Centers

The Meta-XGS project will be developed in two phases and is expected to reach full operation by the end of the decade. Unlike conventional geothermal systems that rely on naturally water-rich underground reservoirs, this project uses an Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) that harnesses impermeable, hot dry rock.

XGS Energy’s proprietary closed-loop design circulates water through steel-cased wells, where it absorbs heat from surrounding rock before returning to the surface to generate electricity via turbine. Because the system is sealed, it doesn’t depend on subsurface permeability or fluid availability, known as two of the biggest limitations for traditional geothermal development.

If proven at scale, this approach could be replicated across regions with deep, hot rock formations, transforming EGS into a widely deployable, low-carbon energy solution for data centers and other high-demand users. Critically, it offers 24/7 baseload power that is immune to weather or time-of-day variation, setting it apart from intermittent renewables like solar and wind.

Unlike many recent corporate-backed clean energy projects developed “behind the meter,” this geothermal installation will feed into the broader public grid. That means its benefits extend beyond Meta’s operations, enhancing grid resilience across New Mexico’s energy landscape.

New Mexico Emerges as a Geothermal Powerhouse

The project comes as New Mexico accelerates its efforts to tap into vast untapped geothermal resources. A new report entitled, The Future of Geothermal in New Mexico, published last month by Project InnerSpace, New Mexico Tech, and the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, estimates the state has over 160 gigawatts of geothermal potential.

Calling New Mexico “a land of geothermal enhancement” (a nod to the state’s official slogan, “The Land of Enchantment”) the report highlights an extraordinary opportunity.

“New Mexico’s combination of abundant subsurface heat, technical expertise from the oil and gas and geothermal industries, and support from political leaders make the state well suited to exponentially grow its geothermal development,” the report concludes. With potential to generate more than 15 times the state’s current installed capacity, geothermal could become a major player in New Mexico’s clean energy future.

New Mexico Governor Lujan Grisham is bullish on the energy development, saying:

Lightning Dock Offers a Baseline for New Mexico's Geothermal Future

New Mexico’s only utility-scale geothermal facility is the Lightning Dock Geothermal Plant in Hidalgo County, located in the state’s southwest corner. The site generates power from four 1 MW binary-cycle units commissioned in 2013, along with a 15 MW unit added in 2018, bringing the plant’s total nameplate capacity to approximately 19 megawatts.

Though modest in output, Lightning Dock is a critical baseline resource. It not only delivers steady, carbon-free power to the region via the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) grid but also provides valuable operational experience in geothermal energy management.

The site doubles as a research and development hub, supporting exploration of subsurface heat and testing of emerging geothermal technologies. As the state’s geothermal ambitions grow, Lightning Dock serves as both a legacy anchor and a launchpad for innovation.

On the new project with XGS Energy and Meta, PNM President and CEO Don Tarry said:

Meta’s Expanding Energy Strategy Tracks With AI’s Soaring Power Demands

This partnership with XGS Energy marks the latest move in Meta’s broad and increasingly diversified energy strategy, one that reflects the explosive growth of its AI infrastructure and the corresponding need for resilient, low-carbon power sources.

Meta has long been one of the largest corporate purchasers of renewable energy globally. As of 2023, the company had contracted more than 10 GW of wind and solar power worldwide to support its data center operations. But the rise of generative AI and large-scale training models has significantly accelerated energy demand, prompting Meta and other hyperscalers to explore advanced and emerging energy technologies, including small modular reactors (SMRs), long-duration energy storage, and now enhanced geothermal systems.

Urvi Parekh, Global Head of Energy at Meta, underscored the importance of aligning energy innovation with AI infrastructure buildout:

Hyperscalers Begin to Embrace Geothermal at Scale

Meta’s new partnership with XGS Energy adds momentum to a growing interest in geothermal energy among hyperscale cloud providers, especially as energy demands surge in the AI era.

In addition to its new collaboration with XGS Energy, Meta previously partnered with Sage Geosystems, a Houston-based geothermal startup, to explore firm power generation using geopressured reservoirs. In September 2023, Sage announced the successful completion of a pilot project in Texas that demonstrated the ability to generate both firm and flexible power from a closed-loop geothermal system.

While the pilot’s scale was limited, delivering about 3 MW during testing, Meta’s involvement was an early signal of its interest in geothermal technologies capable of supporting AI-era infrastructure with round-the-clock reliability. Sage’s CEO Cindy Taff has said the company is targeting commercial-scale development in Texas and other U.S. markets, with support from hyperscaler partners.

In 2021, Google became the first hyperscaler to secure a firmed geothermal energy supply agreement, partnering with Fervo Energy to develop a next-generation enhanced geothermal system (EGS) project in Nevada. That pilot began delivering carbon-free electricity to the local grid in 2023, supplying power to Google’s data center operations in Nevada as part of the company’s 24/7 carbon-free energy initiative. Fervo’s closed-loop design, leveraging horizontal drilling and fiber optic monitoring, was seen as a breakthrough in proving the scalability of advanced geothermal. Data Center Frontier covered the project milestone in October 2023.

Microsoft followed suit, announcing in November 2023 that it had signed a power purchase agreement with Fervo Energy to supply up to 100 MW of geothermal power to its data centers in Nevada. According to Microsoft, the deal is part of its broader goal to match 100% of its electricity consumption with zero-carbon energy purchases on an hourly basis by 2030. The agreement represents one of the largest advanced geothermal procurements to date by a hyperscaler.

Amazon, by contrast, has not yet announced a geothermal procurement, instead continuing to lead in wind and solar PPAs. However, Amazon has invested in low-carbon and geothermal-related technologies through its Climate Pledge Fund, indicating longer-term interest.

Together, these developments signal that hyperscalers are beginning to view geothermal not as a niche technology, but as a potential pillar of future clean energy supply. While still early-stage compared to wind and solar, enhanced geothermal offers unique benefits: 24/7 generation, a small surface footprint, and the potential to be deployed in diverse geographies, including near high-load data center hubs.

With Meta’s entry into the field alongside XGS Energy, the race to commercialize scalable geothermal power for AI-driven infrastructure has entered a new phase: one marked by serious investment, operational deployment, and a growing sense that what lies beneath may be essential to what comes next.

In the video below, the aforementioned Project InnerSpace explains how it has developed a new data center module in its free and open-access GeoMap tool that identifies the most promising locations for geothermal development globally. The new data center module includes a site favorability analysis, today's power potential and future power potential as well as future favorability. 

At Data Center Frontier, we talk the industry talk and walk the industry walk. In that spirit, DCF Staff members may occasionally use AI tools to assist with content. Elements of this article were created with help from OpenAI's GPT4.

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