[Edaily Marketin KIM SUNG-SOO Reporter] As electricity demand rises rapidly due to artificial intelligence (AI) and the electrification of industries, analysts have concluded that transforming energy resources—such as geothermal power—into profitable businesses requires not only technology but also capital procurement, customer acquisition, and cooperation with local communities.

Additionally, analysis suggests that securing capital tailored to the risks at each stage is necessary when transforming technology into a business. Since the biggest uncertainty during the research and development (R&D) and prototype production stages is whether the technical approach actually works, it is argued that venture capital—such as R&D grants or venture investments—is the most suitable funding source.

"Long-Term Growth in Electricity Demand Drives Energy Industry Growth"

Masaaki Mezaki, CEO of Japan’s GPSS Holdings, made these remarks on the 5th at the “Global Alternative Investment Conference in BIXPO 2026,” held at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Gwangju, Jeollanam-do.

Drawing on his experience founding and operating an energy company, CEO Mezaki outlined the conditions necessary for unicorn companies in the energy sector to create sustainable value. He argued that we must look beyond the conventional definition of a unicorn—an unlisted company valued at over $1 billion—and instead assess whether the business solves problems that society will continue to need addressed and whether customers are willing to pay for it on a recurring basis.

CEO Mezaki stated, “While the financial definition of a ‘unicorn’ is useful, it does not reveal whether the technology actually works, whether the business has achieved profitability, or whether its impact can be sustained,” adding, “We must ask what sustainable value can justify a company’s valuation at that scale.”

He cited “long-term growth in electricity demand” as the backdrop for the energy industry’s growth. He explained that electricity consumption has steadily increased due to industrialization, the widespread adoption of home appliances, and the digitalization of the economy, and that AI is now adding new layers of demand.

CEO Mezaki noted, “AI alone is not the sole driver of the increase in electricity demand,” adding, “In a world where electrification is already accelerating, a new layer—computing, which concentrates electricity consumption—is being added.”

He went on to emphasize, “As the electrification of industry, transportation, and buildings is compounded by demand for AI data centers, new opportunities are emerging for companies capable of supplying energy services on a large scale.”

Citing projections from the International Energy Agency (IEA), he also highlighted the pace of growth in electricity demand. According to the IEA’s projections, global annual additional electricity demand is expected to rise from approximately 700 terawatt-hours (TWh) over the past decade to about 1,100 TWh by 2030.

CEO Mezaki explained, “This is a shift that poses a much greater challenge to the power system,” adding, “Demand is being driven not only by AI but also by industry, electric vehicles, air conditioning, heat pumps, and data centers.”

Power, Cooling, and Heat… The Boundaries of the Energy Industry Are Expanding

CEO Mezaki noted that energy unicorns need not be limited to traditional energy companies. He argued that companies addressing industry constraints—such as power, cooling, and computing infrastructure, in addition to energy supply—can also create value in the energy market.

Citing companies that develop AI data centers and provide GPU cloud services as examples, he said, “Customers aren’t simply purchasing electricity; they’re purchasing computing services and data center capacity.” He added, “Rather than treating power as a problem to be solved later, an ‘energy-first’ approach—where power and computing infrastructure are developed together—is crucial.”

He also presented companies that provide software to electric utilities as another example. These companies support everything from customer accounts and billing to the optimization of energy assets, and manage electricity demand by coordinating the usage times of electric vehicles, batteries, and heat pumps.

CEO Mezaki said, “By utilizing forecasts, pricing, and grid connection information, we can adjust electric vehicle charging times to avoid expensive peak hours,” adding, “Managing when and where energy is used also presents a significant business opportunity.”

He also introduced a plan to utilize the heat generated during the cooling process in data centers. Data centers must remove heat to ensure stable operation; by improving cooling systems, auxiliary power consumption can be reduced, and the recovered heat can be supplied to nearby consumers, thereby replacing existing heat sources.

He said, “On one side, there may be customers who need cooling, and on the other, customers who need heat,” adding, “However, a business connecting these two facilities can only be economically viable if factors such as the temperature of the heat, the distance between the facilities, and the timing of heat demand are taken into account.”

He also cited Iceland’s use of geothermal energy. According to data from the Icelandic Energy Agency, as of 2020, approximately 90% of residential heating energy was supplied by geothermal resources.

CEO Mezaki said, “This does not mean that every country must follow Iceland’s example exactly,” adding, “What is important is that each society can build infrastructure tailored to the energy services it actually needs.”

Next-Generation Geothermal: A Financially Viable Business Beyond Technological Potential

CEO Mezaki presented geothermal energy as a major opportunity for next-generation energy businesses. He explained that the value of geothermal energy extends beyond electricity generation to include direct heat supply, district heating, and wellness tourism.

“The value of geothermal energy does not end at the power generation stage,” he said. “It can be expanded to include direct heat supply, district heating systems, wellness tourism, and branded business ventures.”

He also noted that technological advancements could broaden the geographical scope for geothermal utilization. Referring to the IEA’s assessment of next-generation geothermal systems, CEO Mezaki explained that resources at depths of less than 5 km hold approximately 42 terawatts (TW) of technical development potential, while the depth range of 5–8 km is estimated to hold over 550 petawatts (PW) of potential.

However, he made it clear that these figures do not represent the actual scale of power generation facilities that will be built. “These figures represent the technical resource potential estimated through modeling; they are not predictions of the scale of power generation facilities that will actually be constructed,” he said, adding, “Nor does this mean that every site is commercially viable.”

Next-generation geothermal technologies were broadly categorized into traditional geothermal power generation, Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), and closed-loop systems. Traditional geothermal power generation utilizes naturally occurring hot water, steam, or geologic formations through which fluids can flow.

EGS involves drilling wells into hot rock layers, injecting fluid to increase permeability, and then circulating the fluid to recover heat. A closed-loop system is structured so that the working fluid circulates within a sealed underground system, absorbing heat from the surrounding rock.

CEO Mezaki emphasized, “The important question is not which technical structure will prevail,” but rather, “how can financial institutions transform widely distributed geothermal resources into investable projects and implement them repeatedly?”

He explained that to achieve this, it is necessary to verify not only technical performance but also sustained demand, customers’ willingness to pay, and the ability to execute the business on a repeatable basis. “Business viability isn’t guaranteed simply because a technology is new,” he said. “It must address problems that are substantively important to customers or the system, and it must link social benefits to customers through contracts and sustainable economic relationships.”

Stage-by-Stage Capital Raising… Nurturing the Local Community and the Business

He emphasized that the process of transforming

technology

into

a business

requires capital raising tailored to the risks at each stage. During the research and development (R&D) and prototyping stages, the greatest uncertainty lies in whether the technical approach actually works; therefore, R&D grants or venture capital may be appropriate.

In the initial commercial project phase, the key challenges shift to stable construction and operation, as well as securing energy-purchasing customers. At this stage, strategic partnerships, risk-sharing mechanisms, and firm purchase commitments from customers are crucial. Once the business model is validated and a track record of operations and contract structures is established, there is greater scope for utilizing traditional infrastructure financing.

CEO Mezaki stated, “We should not assume that infrastructure lenders are willing to bear scientific and technical risks that have not yet been resolved,” adding, “While technology developers and project developers may need growth capital, individual project assets can utilize different financing structures.”

He believed that, during business expansion, it is more important to accumulate business development methodologies rather than applying the same facilities and structures to every project. While geological conditions, customers, permits, and relationships with local communities vary by region, aspects such as design, performance measurement, contracts, financing, and the use of operational data can be applied to future projects, he explained.

CEO Mezaki said, “While every energy project has its own regional characteristics, the methodology for developing projects can be scaled,” adding, “The goal is not to replicate the exact same assets in every region, but to build a better execution model for developing projects suited to each region.”

He also introduced the business approach of GPSS, which he leads. He explained that GPSS develops renewable energy projects in collaboration with local partners and treats local communities not merely as sites where power plants are built, but as partners in co-creating the projects.

“We are combining local resources, knowledge, and long-term interests with our project development, engineering, and financial capabilities,” he said. “Our goal is to design structures that ensure the success of the project also creates lasting value for the local community.”

He continued, “Rather than designing a project first and adding community benefits later, we must reflect shared interests in the business model from the very beginning,” adding, “Applying the experience and lessons learned in one region to the next is how we intend to expand.”

CEO Mezaki emphasized that the competitiveness of companies leading the energy transition does not lie solely in the technology itself. Rather, the ability to coordinate technology, capital, customers, infrastructure, and local partners into a single ecosystem is the foundation for sustainable growth.

“No single company can achieve the energy transition on its own,” he said. “It is crucial to leverage technology and capital to implement projects tailored to each region and turn them into scalable business models.”