Underwater Volcano Generates 2 kW of Electricity in 8.7 Seconds
The startup says the test marked the first subsea geothermal well and produced 60 watt-hours before a cable failure ended the run.
- On Monday, Seattle-based Endurance Energy announced the first end-to-end demonstration of subsea geothermal power, with its Adélie unit generating net-positive electricity from an active underwater volcano nearly a mile deep in the Pacific Ocean, 300 miles off the Oregon coast.
- Endurance aims to provide continuous, weather-independent clean electricity for coastal grids by developing subsea geothermal systems along mid-ocean ridges. The startup designed its 3-ton test plant to survive the deep sea's intense pressure and corrosive environment using titanium components.
- During the three-week deployment at Axial Seamount, Adélie generated net-positive electricity for 8.7 seconds from a natural hydrothermal vent. Engineers in Seattle controlled the plant in real time over subsea fiber-optic cables, demonstrating full remote operation capability.
- Although a power cable failure and battery protection stopped the test early, the mission yielded critical data on seafloor drilling, heat transfer, and long-distance equipment control. Endurance is now refurbishing the hardware and software to improve reliability for future deployments.
- The company plans to deploy an upgraded unit named Gentoo this winter, targeting sustained higher power generation. This effort supports Endurance's goal of launching a 2-megawatt commercial project in the Kingdom of Tonga by 2027 to reduce reliance on imported diesel.
11 Articles
11 Articles
The World’s First Subsea Geothermal Well Had 8.7 Seconds of Glory
About 300 miles off the Oregon coast, a mile beneath the ocean’s surface, a startup just drilled the world’s first subsea geothermal well. And for a grand total of exactly 8.7 seconds, its prototype power plant generated about 2 kilowatts of net power. It wasn’t quite the result the Seattle-based Endurance Energy was hoping for — the company’s goal was to run its 100-kilowatt generator for a full year. But it’s not nothing. “We really proved wit…
This startup just tested turning an underwater volcano into a power plant
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 their ship, they lowered a three-ton generator to the …
This geothermal startup produced a tiny bit of power from the seafloor
A tiny power plant notched a big win last month off the coast of Oregon: For nearly 30 seconds, it generated electricity using the heat of an underwater volcano. The startup Endurance Energy deployed its test unit, called Adélie, about a mile below the surface of the Pacific Ocean during a three-week demonstration…
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