Fervo Energy has announced the successful completion of an appraisal drilling campaign at a new greenfield geothermal site, Project Blanford, located in Millard County, Utah, 170 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.
The drilling results confirm resource temperatures above 555°F at approximately 11,200 feet deep, exceeding the requirements for commercial viability. Drilled in under 11 days, the vertical appraisal well marks the hottest well drilled in company history, further de-risking and expanding Fervo’s industry-leading pipeline of enhanced geothermal projects.
The drilling results confirm resource temperatures above 555°F at approximately 11,200 feet deep, exceeding the requirements for commercial viability.
An independent assessment completed using the appraisal data confirms a multi-gigawatt resource potential at the Blanford site. Additionally, a diagnostic fracture injection test was performed successfully, validating the ability to stimulate the target formation and providing key reservoir data for development planning.
The appraisal results, announced during remarks by Fervo’s Co-Founder and CTO, Dr. Jack Norbeck, at the 51st Stanford Geothermal Workshop, reflect the growing role of AI-enabled drilling and exploration technology in Fervo’s development strategy. Using proprietary, AI-driven subsurface analytics, Fervo identified and assessed a novel play concept targeting a hot sedimentary basin and optimized the drilling plan. Temperature logs measured in the appraisal well place the site above the 95th percentile for deep geothermal gradient across the Western United States, proving the value and capability of Fervo’s exploration technology.
“Fervo’s exploration strategy has always been underpinned by the seamless integration of cutting-edge data acquisition and advanced analytics,” said Norbeck. “This latest ultra-high temperature discovery highlights our team’s ability to detect and develop EGS sweet spots using AI-enhanced geophysical techniques.”
As reported to BIC Magazine, the new greenfield site also expands Fervo’s geologic footprint as previous projects validated EGS development in metamorphic and igneous formations. The target geothermal reservoir at the Blanford site consists of sedimentary formations including sandstones, claystones, and carbonates, which can be drilled more easily and cost-effectively than the more commonly targeted granite formations, immediately expanding the global resource potential for EGS.
These drilling results mark the latest inflection point in a multi-year journey of continuous improvement in Fervo’s EGS technology. Moving from a resource temperature of 365°F at Project Red, to 400°F at Cape Station, and now exceeding 555°F at Blanford, Fervo continues to demonstrate an unparalleled ability to unlock increasingly hotter reservoirs. Along with advances in longer laterals and larger wellbore sizes, Fervo’s deployment-led technology innovations are leading to significant improvements in EGS well output and power plant efficiency.
Together, these achievements underscore Fervo’s rapid pace of innovation across AI-driven exploration, high-temperature resource development, and drilling execution capabilities critical to delivering reliable, carbon-free geothermal power at scale.
