Enhanced geothermal has had a promising few years, nudged forward by data centers’ insatiable demand for electricity. Fervo Energy has landed deals on those tailwinds, suggesting, but not guaranteeing, that the company was through the “valley of death.”
The term describes when a startup has proven its tech, but hasn’t raised enough money to show it can work profitably at scale. Many startups fail to ever move past this point, and end up dying off.