A geothermal company that has been in operation for 60 years has recently transitioned into the AI infrastructure sector.

      Ormat, a geothermal company established sixty years ago, has entered into a power purchase agreement with Google for up to 150MW in Nevada and is engaged in enhanced geothermal pilot projects alongside Sage Geosystems and SLB. Europe faces a similar demand issue, but is addressing it with caution rather than contracts.

      A company that has been exploring for heat since the 1960s is now tied to an artificial intelligence narrative. Ormat has committed to providing Google with up to 150 megawatts of new geothermal capacity in Nevada, facilitated through the state utility and a tariff allowing the buyer to pay a premium for innovative technology. Prior to this year, Ormat had never sold directly to major power consumers. Its inaugural data centre agreement, signed in January with Switch, covers approximately 13 megawatts over a 20-year period at a facility in western Nevada.

      The agreement with Google significantly eclipses this, being more than ten times larger. The projects associated with it are anticipated to become operational between 2028 and 2030, pending approval from Nevada regulators in the latter half of this year.

      What data centres seek is reliability. Geothermal energy is consistent around the clock, irrespective of weather, making it more valuable to computing facilities compared to less expensive, intermittent power sources.

      Ormat operates about 1.85 gigawatts globally and aims to reach 2.8 by 2028, relying solely on traditional plants and storage solutions. Historically, it has increased its capacity by approximately 100 megawatts each year.

      The more ambitious venture is enhanced geothermal, which employs drilling and fracturing techniques from the oil and gas industry to access hotter rock. Ormat is conducting pilot projects with Sage Geosystems and SLB, both expected to be operational by late 2027, with individual projects potentially achieving 500 megawatts.

      This is not a speculative balance sheet. In the first half of 2026, revenue hit $662.7 million, a 43% increase, with a net profit of $71.2 million. CEO Doron Blachar remarked that "all the stars are aligned exactly on time."

      The comparison that casts him in a favorable light is Fervo Energy. The enhanced geothermal specialist went public in May with a $10 billion valuation and is now valued at about half that amount.

      Europe faces similar demand but is responding differently. Denmark has halted new grid connections due to data centres overwhelming the continent's cleanest grid, and the EU has urged households to shift electricity usage away from peak times.

      The availability of resources is not the issue. Iceland relies on geothermal energy, Italy has been producing geothermal power since 1911, and significant national programs focus on the deep rock resources beneath Germany and the Netherlands.

      What Nevada possesses is a contract. Europe aspires for geothermal energy to replace natural gas, and while it figures out the details, hyperscalers are signing 15-year agreements elsewhere.