Spencer Jackson's Critical Energy raises $22 million for modular geothermal turbines
Critical Energy, a new venture from Spencer Jackson, co-founder and CEO of Critical Energy, who worked at SpaceX on Falcon Heavy, Starship, and the Raptor rocket engine, just landed $22 million to build modular turbines for geothermal power plants.
The funding came from seed rounds led by Susa Ventures and Upfront Ventures, with $3 million in venture debt from Silicon Valley Bank, bringing total early capital to $22 million.
The idea is to make clean energy faster and easier by using turbines that do not need complicated on-site assembly.
Critical energy targets gigawatt output 2030s
Its first 2.5-megawatt project is set for 2027, but it is thinking big: the goal is to hit gigawatt-level output in the early 2030s and reach 300 gigawatts per year by 2045.
Jackson points out that geothermal has huge potential, at least 42 terawatts of capacity available worldwide, but often gets overlooked compared to nuclear.
He says better turbine technology could speed things up and help geothermal finally get its moment.