Clean energy technology startup Sage Geosystems announced that it has raised $17 million in a Series A financing round, with proceeds aimed at fully funding a new commercial geothermal-based energy storage facility.

Founded in 2020, Houston, Texas-based Sage Geosystems is developing solutions aimed at making geothermal energy, typically limited to volcanic regions or requiring deep drilling, more widely available and affordable, and at depths that can be economically drilled using existing oilfield technologies and equipment. The company’s technologies include geothermal energy storage solutions that can integrate with renewable energy sources such as solar and wind to ensure a continuous and reliable power supply, enabling baseload renewable energy, and with benefits over current storage solutions including lower above-ground footprint, avoidance of sustainability issues relating to materials such as lithium, improved efficiency and long-duration storage capabilities.

The new financing will be used to fund EarthStore, a new 3MW commercial facility in Texas based on Sage’s Geopressured Geothermal System (GGS) technology that harvests energy from pressurized water stored deep underground, and is able to store energy for short and long duration periods, and can be paired with intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Construction of the facility is anticipated to begin in Q2 2024, with a targeted commission date of Q4 2024.

Cindy Taff, CEO of Sage Geosystems, said:

“The first close of our Series A funding and our commercial facility are significant milestones in our mission to make Geopressured Geothermal System (GGS) technologies a reality. The success of our GGS technologies is not only critical to Sage Geosystems becoming post-revenue, but it is an essential step in accelerating the development of this proprietary geothermal baseload approach.”

The funding round was led by Chesapeake Energy Corporation, and included participation from technology investor Arch Meredith, Helium-3 Ventures, and support from existing investors Virya, LLC, Nabors Industries Ltd., and Ignis Energy Inc.