JERA Backs Quaise Energy's Millimeter-Wave Geothermal Push as Idemitsu Weighs Oregon Stake
Two Japanese energy majors are circling a Houston startup using millimeter-wave beams to drill to superhot depths, with a 250 MW Oregon plant targeted for 2030.
JERA Co. invested in Houston-based Quaise Energy through its corporate venture capital arm, JERA Ventures, Asian Power reported on July 15, 2026 (2026-07-15), adding institutional weight to a $134 million Series B first tranche that Quaise had announced eight days earlier. The two companies plan to explore deploying the technology in Japan.3,2
For Japanese utilities, the timing is relevant. JKM Asian LNG spot prices held at $23.41/MMBtu on August 28, 2026, and any scalable domestic baseload alternative draws close attention from power companies carrying heavy import costs. Japan sits atop volcanic geology that has barely been tapped commercially, hindered by national park designations and community opposition more than by the absence of the resource itself.3
Quaise's technology is designed to bypass the depth limitation that has constrained geothermal worldwide. The company uses a gyrotron, a vacuum electron tube that generates millimeter-wave beams, to vaporize rock rather than grind through it, reaching depths of up to 20 kilometres where temperatures run between 300 and 500 degrees Celsius, according to Japan NRG. Standard rotary drill bits cannot survive those conditions.1
Project Obsidian is the first commercial application. Quaise is targeting a 250 MW geothermal plant in central Oregon, with operations pencilled for 2030, Japan NRG reported. The $134 million raise was announced on July 7, 2026 (2026-07-07) and is directed at advancing that Oregon facility, Canary Media reported.1,2
Idemitsu is also weighing participation in Project Obsidian, Japan NRG reported. Two Japanese energy companies positioning themselves in the same early-stage US project, one already committed through JERA Ventures and one still evaluating, implies a level of coordination around the technology that goes beyond a single venture bet. But neither has disclosed financial terms.1
State funding is following private capital in Japan. Kyoto Fusioneering, a separate company, received ¥500 million from NEDO, Japan's national energy research agency, to develop its own gyrotron for deep geothermal drilling, Japan NRG reported. NEDO backing the core drilling component in parallel with private investment in Quaise's commercial application of it suggests coordinated public and private attention to the same technical approach — even as no project using this method has yet produced power at depth.1
The existing US geothermal fleet offers little direct comparison. The country holds roughly 4 gigawatts of installed capacity spread across 99 plants, more than half of them in California, according to Canary Media. That installed base was built almost entirely on conventional hydrothermal resources, where hot water rises naturally close to the surface. Project Obsidian would be drilling dry hot rock at depths no commercial project has penetrated before.4
A separate Seattle-based startup plans to deploy a 100-kilowatt geothermal generator to the seafloor off Oregon's coast in September 2026, targeting a hydrothermal vent at temperatures up to 750 degrees Fahrenheit, OilPrice.com reported on August 23, 2026 (2026-08-23). The offshore pilot and Quaise's land-based millimeter-wave program represent distinct engineering approaches chasing the same premise: that extreme-heat geothermal resources are reachable before the end of the decade.5
Japan's seismic environment adds an engineering constraint that the Oregon technology does not address directly. Japan NRG noted that earthquake-resistant design integrated into a 15 MW-class turbine could model future projects in seismically active markets, where European offshore wind designs are insufficient. Still, no commercially deployed turbine yet meets that standard at the scale Quaise is targeting.1
A 2030 first-operations target for a 250 MW plant built on unproven drilling technology is tight. Permit timelines, grid connection requirements, and the possibility of unexpected subsurface conditions have extended every comparable first-of-kind project. JERA's commitment is through a venture vehicle, not project finance, a structure that prices in technology risk. Whether Idemitsu moves to a binding stake before or after Quaise completes its first deep test wells will reveal how much geological proof the Japanese market requires.1,3