Endurance Energy has raised a $54 million Series A to develop geothermal power plants deep in the ocean, where founder Andrew Redd says large amounts of renewable baseload energy may be available near tectonically active regions.
The startup was founded by Redd, a former SpaceX engineer who worked on Dragon and Starship. TechCrunch reported that Founders Fund led the round, with participation from Ascend, Construct Capital, Felicis Ventures, First Round Capital, Point72 Ventures, Riot Ventures, and Voyager Ventures.
SpaceX Experience Shapes The Startup
Redd said his time at SpaceX pushed him to look for a renewable energy approach that was not incremental. He grew up in the Pacific Northwest, a region affected in recent years by unusual heat waves and major fires, and wanted to work on renewable energy after leaving SpaceX.
Since founding Endurance Energy last year, Redd has grown the company to 25 employees. Twelve of them previously worked at SpaceX, while the company’s vice president of engineering previously worked at Helion Energy, the fusion startup.
Why Endurance Chose Ocean Geothermal
Geothermal energy has long been used through hot springs and power plants, but Endurance is looking offshore. Redd said future energy sources should be renewable or non-polluting, available around the clock, quick to deploy, and capable of producing tens or hundreds of gigawatts.
He ruled out nuclear power because of long regulatory and construction timelines. He also said solar and wind are not available around the clock without batteries, while hydropower is limited by geography and existing site constraints.
“Geothermal is the only real deployable, baseload renewable,” Redd said. “But why is it only 0.4% of U.S. energy?”
Targeting The Ring Of Fire
Other geothermal startups, including Fervo, Zanskar, XGS Energy, and Sage Geosystems, are drilling deep into the Earth’s crust to reach heat sources hot enough for power generation. Many of those projects are in the Western U.S., away from major population centers.
Endurance is looking at offshore areas where tectonic plates spread apart and magma moves close to the surface. The U.S. West Coast, Japan, and parts of Southeast Asia sit near the Ring of Fire, the geologically active zone around the Pacific Ocean.
Redd estimates that about 6 terawatts of ocean geothermal power could be developed around the Ring of Fire over the next five to 10 years. The world uses about 20 terawatts of energy on average across all sources at any given moment.
Engineering Challenges Remain
Building power plants offshore will require systems that can operate under deep ocean pressure and resist saltwater corrosion. Redd said robots will need to handle much of the work.
He said the oil and gas industry’s experience with offshore drilling shows that these challenges can be addressed. He also said Endurance plans to avoid sensitive habitats, including areas near hydrothermal vents.
Endurance will evaluate potential sites based on factors such as submarine cable cost, resource scale, and the size of the nearby power market. Some resources are a few dozen miles from shore, while others are a few hundred miles away.
“The idea is that you could support any major coastal city on the Ring of Fire,” Redd said.
Featured image credits: Magnific.com
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