Climate IPOs surge: Solv, X-energy, Fervo ride AI-driven energy demand

A wave of climate tech companies has gone public in the US in 2025, capitalizing on surging electricity demand from AI data centers and favorable political conditions. Solar and battery firm Solv Energy IPO'd in February at a $6 billion valuation, bringing 21 GW of operational projects. Nuclear startup X-energy followed in April, reaching an $11.5 billion market cap on its first day, despite being years away from commercializing its 80 MW high-temperature gas-cooled reactors. Most recently, geothermal company Fervo Energy went public in mid-May at a $12.4 billion valuation. Fervo uses fracking techniques to create geothermal reservoirs, with its first 500 MW Cape Station project in Utah set to start power generation by October 2025.

These IPOs are tightly linked to the AI boom. Solv mentioned data centers over a dozen times in its SEC filings. Google is a longtime Fervo investor and helped pioneer a clean transition tariff with the company. Amazon owns close to 20% of X-energy and is also a client. The Trump administration's support for fossil fuels and skepticism toward wind power has paradoxically created a political sweet spot for geothermal and nuclear, which are seen as reliable, baseload clean energy sources. Fervo believes it can cut construction costs to $7 per kilowatt at Cape Station—cheaper than new nuclear but double the cost of natural gas. With over 600 MW in binding power purchase agreements and leases for 40 GW of potential capacity, Fervo alone could dwarf the current 4 GW US geothermal fleet. X-energy is awaiting final NRC approval for its reactor project at a Dow Chemical plant in Texas. The race to power data centers is accelerating these climate tech deployments, potentially reshaping the US grid.