Zanskar thinks 1 TW of geothermal power is being overlooked

Summary

The ground beneath our feet holds so much energy that experts at the Department of Energy think geothermal power could generate 60 gigawatts — or nearly 10% of U.S. electricity — by 2050. Zanskar co-founder and CEO Carl Hoiland thinks that lofty number is too low, mostly because it’s discounting conventional geothermal’s potential. The DOE’s figures assume advances in enhanced geothermal, which uses fracking techniques to access hot rock deep underground. Companies like Fervo and Sage Geosystems have been pursuing that angle, and experts agree it has tremendous potential. By contrast, conventional geothermal, which taps naturally fractured hotspots, has been stagnant, generating just 4 gigawatts in the United States, up only about a gigawatt in the last decade or so. Conventional geothermal has been held back by outdated assumptions, Hoiland told TechCrunch. “They underestimated how many undiscovered systems there are, maybe by an order of magnitude or more,” Hoiland said. With modern drilling techniques, “you can get a lot more out of each of them, maybe even an order of magnitude or more from each of those. All of a sudden the number goes from tens of gigawatts to what could be a terawatt-scale opportunity.” Zanskar is relying on AI to help break conventional geothermal out of its malaise. In the process, the startup has resuscitated a flagging power plant in New Mexico and discovered two new sites with over 100 megawatts of combined potential. Those successes have helped Zanskar land a $115 million Series C led by Spring Lane Capital with participation from the All Aboard Fund, Carica Sustainable Investments, Clearvision Ventures, Cross Creek, GVP Climate, Imperative Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Munich Re Ventures, Obvious Ventures, Orion Industrial Ventures, Safar Partners, StepStone Group, Susquehanna Sustainable Investments, Tranquillion, Union Square Ventures, University Growth Fund, and UP.Partners. Techcrunch event San Francisco | October 13-15, 2026 Many...