{
  "id": 15623164,
  "title": "This startup just tested turning an underwater volcano into a power plant",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/19/this-startup-just-tested-turning-an-underwater-volcano-into-a-power",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-19T15:12:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fast Company",
    "slug": "fast-company",
    "url": "https://www.fastcompany.com/91625932/this-startup-just-tested-turning-an-underwater-volcano-into-a-power-plant"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Last month, a company named Endurance Energy carried out an ambitious experiment to test the feasibility of harnessing geothermal energy from an underwater volcano. The team set up shop around 5,000 feet below the ocean's surface, 300 miles off the coast of Oregon. They installed a two-inch wide, 52-foot deep well to access the 500-degree heat beneath the seafloor, marking the first successful deployment of a fully encased well of this kind.\n\nSubsequently, they lowered a 3-ton generator to the ocean floor to assess its capacity to generate electricity from the heat. As waves crashed around their vessel, the generator briefly generated power for 8.7 seconds when connected to a natural vent in the sea floor, despite the experiment being halted due to a power cable failure.\n\nDespite this setback, the team views this test as a significant milestone toward their ultimate goal: a network of undersea power plants that could provide steady, clean energy. Andrew Redd, the company's founder and CEO, emphasizes that this is the first time such an experiment has been attempted on such a commercial scale. With a background at SpaceX, Redd was motivated by the opportunity to work with highly skilled professionals and address a complex engineering challenge that, if successful, could yield substantial power output.\n\nThe startup, based in Seattle and backed by $63 million in funding, has already conducted five undersea deployments. The most recent, the September test, was the most comprehensive, encompassing the full end-to-end process of their system, dubbed Adélie. Currently, this prototype is being refined at the company's Seattle laboratory, with plans to relaunch it in the coming months.\n\nOne of the key advantages of this approach, according to Redd, lies in the availability of geothermal resources offshore. Unlike on land, where favorable conditions for geothermal power are less common, offshore locations offer vast, permeable rock formations, abundant water resources, and a thin oceanic crust that results in a high geothermal gradient. Though environmental impacts remain a concern, Endurance Energy claims that their approach is relatively low-impact, citing quieter drilling operations compared to ship engines.\n\nIn theory, the potential is enormous. Redd estimates that around six terawatts of power could be harnessed across the Pacific’s Ring of Fire within the next five years, surpassing current global energy demand. He envisions the technology as a viable, cost-effective alternative to existing power sources, particularly in areas near the shore where resources are closer to land. Endurance Energy is developing a modular, factory-produced system to achieve economies of scale, similar to the mass production of solar panels.\n\nMoving forward, the company is refining its commercial-sized 2-megawatt generator, with the first commercial-scale project set to begin in the Kingdom of Tonga, where the grid currently relies on imported diesel. Upon successful implementation, this undersea geothermal power plant could be operational as early as next year.",
  "summary": "Last month, a startup called Endurance Energy sailed 300 miles off the coast of Oregon to test something new: deploying geothermal power at an underwater volcano. In a vent field around 5,000 feet underwater, they drilled a two-inch-wide, 52-foot-deep well that tapped into 500-degree heat beneath the ocean floor—the first fully encased well of its kind. Later, as 10-foot waves crashed around…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}