As grids come under strain from growing demand from data centers and EVs, geothermal startups have been racing to unlock energy that lurks deep within the Earth. Now, one startup has developed the world’s hottest geothermal well — one that harbors enough energy to power thousands of homes.

Mazama Energy said today that it had drilled a well in Oregon that reached 629˚ F (331˚ C) at the bottom of the borehole. Vinod Khosla, whose firm Khosla Ventures incubated the company, mentioned the milestone on stage today at TechCrunch Disrupt.

“This one site can produce 5 gigawatts of energy,” Khosla said.

The potential at other sites could be even larger. “It’s not tens of megawatts, as usual [with] geothermal wells. You can do gigawatt scale, and frankly, do 100 gigawatts or more — more than AI

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