Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Quaise
Millimeter-wave drilling technology to access geothermal energy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
Quaise, Inc is developing a millimeter-wave drilling system for converting existing power stations to use superdeep geothermal energy.[1] The system would repurpose existing gyrotron technology to drill 20 kilometers beneath the surface, where temperatures exceed 400 °C. No fracking would be required, avoiding the potential for earthquakes that have occurred in other geothermal systems.[2][3] Drilling using this technique is hoped to be fast, with boreholes aimed to be completed in 100 days[4] using existing 1MW gyrotrons. To reduce costs and delays, the company planned to establish its wells on the sites of existing power plants.[5]
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
By 2026, the company hopes to have achieved 100MW of geothermal power output.[6] By 2028, Quaise aims to have converted an existing fossil-fueled power plant to run on geothermal steam.[citation needed]
Remove ads
History
Quaise was founded in 2018. In October 2021, Quaise began initial testing of gyrotron boring at Oak Ridge National Laboratory[7] and planned to have a full-scale drilling rig completed by 2024.[8] It closed a $21 million in Series A1 financing in 2024. In 2025, it announced the completion of a test well that reached a depth of 100 metres (330 ft).[5]
Technology
Existing geothermal power stations can only be deployed in rare locations where adequate heat is located within 3 km of the surface.[9] These resources are of a comparatively low temperature, and require seismically risky stimulation techniques. Further, drilling at these depths is expensive and slow.[citation needed]
Instead, Quaise plans to drill quickly using a gyrotron and waveguide, vaporizing the rock by heating it.[10] Temperatures at 20 km depth are above the supercritical point of water, which allows ten times more energy to be transferred given the same volumetric flow.[11] The supercritical water is then used in a supercritical steam generator which may previously have been powered with fossil fuels.[citation needed]
Remove ads
Comparison with other power sources
The approach proposes advantages compared with other power sources:
- Constant 24-hour generation – Maximum output always available. Does not require storage. Wind and Solar are intermittent generators.[citation needed]
- Small land footprint – Consumes less than 1% of the land area of wind or solar for the same maximum output.[12]
See also
References
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads