Is geothermal ready to compete?

TECH

Is geothermal ready to compete?

What happened: Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) could offer a viable pathway to firm, clean electricity in Canada, according to new research from the Cascade Institute.

The details: Geothermal is a low-carbon energy source that harnesses the Earth’s internal heat to generate electricity. Wells are drilled deep underground where water or working fluids heat up and are brought to the surface to drive turbines (or used directly for heating.

The report found that EGS could deliver electricity at a lower cost than a gas peaker plant or new nuclear generator in the four locations studied, and future innovation could cut costs by another 40-50% and be cost-competitive with utility solar + storage or some gas generators.

Why it matters: Enhanced geothermal could be a fusion energy-level bet: high energy density, doesn’t run out, near-zero emissions, and available 24/7. It’s the kind of stable energy required to complement variable renewables and make sure the lights are always on - typically only possible with nuclear or fossil fuels.

Tapping into this 24/7 power supply could replace fossil fuels in power generation, industrial heat, and district energy.

Path to scale: Enhanced geothermal requires the right mix of high-grade heat (or tapping into lower-grade heat) and permeable rock that allows the working fluid to flow and exchange heat.

Drilling tech is advancing - the fracking boom in the mid-2000s rapidly accelerated drilling technology - but more needs to be done to contend with the intense heat and pressure experienced deep underground.

Who’s working on it: US-based Fervo has become the standard-bearer for geothermal, and is working to solve the permeability problem by essentially “fracking” reservoirs into existence.

Calgary’s Eavor is taking a different approach, drilling horizontal wells and circulating a fluid to capture the heat like a radiator. The company is currently building a 8.2MW project in Germany where they’ll drill up to 4.5 km.

Yes, but: EGS is still in its early stages - there’s only about 16GW of geothermal power generation installed globally. The Cascade authors say its costs aren’t well understood and can vary depending on the local subsurface conditions, meaning the technology is often left out of energy system planning.

The bottom line: There are still technical hurdles to deploying geothermal for base-load power anywhere, but Cascade’s research shows that there is a huge amount of clean energy ready to be tapped into today.

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CLIMATE CAPITAL

🧯 SenseNet (Vancouver, BC) closed a $14 million Series A round led by Stormbreaker to expand their ultra-early wildfire detection and management platform in the U.S.

🌊 MarineLabs (Victoria, BC) raised a $4 million seed extension led by BDC Capital and InBC Investment Corporation to expand its real-time marine weather data and AI-driven forecasts in North America.

🏢 XNRGY Climate Systems (Montreal, QC and Arizon) secured growth equity funding from Decarbonization Partners, Climate Investment, and Activate Capital to fuel U.S. expansion for its sustainable HVAC and cooling solutions.

🚗 Kite Mobility (Toronto, ON) secured a $1 million investment from The Atmospheric Fund, Mitsui, and Enlightened Building Technologies to expand its electric mobility sharing in multi-unit residential buildings.

⚡ Splice N Connect (Calgary, AB) raised $1.75 million in pre-seed funding led by Avatar Innovations for its real-time grid monitoring platform.

🔋 Electra Battery Materials (Toronto, ON) closed US$34.5 million in financing and US$40 million in debt equitization to fully fund construction of North America’s first cobalt sulfate refinery.

IN THE FIELD

♻️ Vancouver's Neighbourhood Energy Utility expanded its sewage heat recovery system, tripling capacity to 3.3 MW.

💧 HTEC launched the first commercial-scale clean hydrogen electrolyzer in Burnaby, BC.

🚗 GM ended production of its BrightDrop electric delivery vans in Ontario due to U.S. tariffs and new domestic incentives.

• The federal government will restrict tariff-free imports from GM and Stellantis in response to cuts to their Canadian operations.

🚚 California-based electric truck maker Harbinger will expand into Canada, citing market demand due to Canada’s EV mandates.

🔌 Flo is closing its second assembly plant due to EV policy changes, and will focus on partnering with hardware companies, home chargers and operating its network.

⛏️ Canada Nickel and NetCarb will develop a zero carbon industrial cluster in Ontario, using nickel tailings for carbon sequestration and hydrogen production.

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NEWS

📡 Signals & Currents

All in on SMRs: The federal and Ontario governments are investing $3 billion to build four small modular nuclear reactors. Ontario is buying a 7.5% stake and the feds will own 15% through the Canada Growth Fund.

The reactor will come from U.S.-based GE Hitachi, but governments are hoping the project will generate a positive local economic impact and build out Ontario’s nuclear expertise and supply chains.

Why it matters: SMRs promise reliable, low-carbon energy with lower upfront capital and safety improvements vs traditional reactors. Canada wants to lead in this emerging industry, but few contracts have been signed with home-grown reactor developers.

The federal government says China can be a strategic partner to advance Canada’s economic and security goals, potentially opening the door to more cooperation on EVs. [Canadian Press]

Alberta wants to be a data centre hub, but needs more electricity to meet demand. It currently has project proposals totalling more than the entire existing grid. [The Logic]

Saskatchewan will move forward with SMRs, banking on the feds to cover 75% of the cost. [CBC]

Sweden’s Stegra secured new funding from Hy24 to cover cost overruns from its first-of-a-kind green steel plant. [Bloomberg]

Exxon sued California over its climate disclosure laws, saying the laws infringe on its free speech. [CNBC]

Mosquitos were spotted in Iceland for the first time thanks to rising temperatures. [Grist]

Global energy storage capacity is on a tear, up 23% from 2024 lead by installs in the U.S. and China. [BNEF]

Stardust Solutions raised $60M to develop solar geoengineering technology, aiming to deploy by 2030. [Heatmap]

The US DOE will accelerate interconnection requests for large flexible energy loads like data centres. [Latitude]

Recovery from climate-related disasters is driving US economic growth. [Bloomberg]

The EU could give industry more flexibility in meeting climate targets as it negotiates a new 2040 target. [Reuters]

COMMUNITY

🚀 2025 Call for Wildfire Tech Innovation: NorthX will award up to $3 million in non-dilutive investments to Canadian-based innovators developing commercial pathways to scale hard-tech wildfire management solutions. Apply by November 27th.

➡️ Discover more funding opportunities.

🗓️ Heating Up: Is Home Electrification Ready to Scale?: I’m co-hosting this conversation with Fern Comfort, exploring the future of home electrification and what policy changes mean for adoption. Ottawa, October 30th.

➡️ Discover more climate events.

🧑🏻‍💻 Diagram is hiring a Chief of Staff, Venture Creation to support the studio and founders from Idea to Seed.

➡️ Find more open roles.