Eavor-Loop™ is the world’s first scalable form of clean, baseload, dispatchable energy. Developed by Eavor Technologies Inc., we learn more about this innovative invention with Vice President of Business Development, Neil Ethier.
EAVOR TECHNOLOGIES
Different communities and levels of government are searching for new, sustainable, and secure energy solutions.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has amplified discussions and project advancements in renewables and, although interest rates and supply chain challenges have created some headwinds, the prospects remain promising.
North America has significant expertise in this space and, therefore, has the ability to dominate the market, as it is uniquely positioned to be a world leader in next-generation geothermal technologies, creating enormous value for the continent.
“Different audiences are interested in various aspects of what our technology can do, such as energy security and autonomy, decarbonization, job creation, local labor, and minimal land and water use,” opens Neil Ethier, Vice President of Business Development at Eavor Technologies Inc. (Eavor).
Eavor is a geothermal technology-based energy company dedicated to delivering a clean, reliable, and affordable energy future.
The company was founded in 2017 by a group of experienced entrepreneurs, including Chief Business Development Officer, Paul Cairns, who was inspired to solve the orphan well problem in Alberta.
Cairns knew there was energy in the subsurface and was contemplating ways to connect these wellbores and economically harvest the heat to supply energy.
“While we are ultimately unable to use existing wellbores, it did bring together a group of incredibly talented men and women to start looking at this problem and build our product,” explains Ethier.
Today, Eavor has close to 100 people working across its headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, a rapidly growing office in Dusseldorf, Germany, and an international business development presence.
I believe we have an incredibly exciting technology that has the potential to be disruptive on a global scale.
Neil Ethier, Vice President of Business Development, Eavor Technologies Inc.
CLOSED-LOOP SYSTEM
Given that geothermal energy only accounts for roughly 0.4 percent of installed capacity for electricity generation in the US and 0.2 percent globally, Eavor believes that the only way to make it truly scalable is to create a closed-loop system.
Thus, the company has developed a novel solution to address this problem by utilizing a deep closed-loop geothermal solution called Eavor-Loop™, enabling scalable, firm, emission-free energy to be generated anywhere on the planet.
“I believe we have an incredibly exciting technology that has the potential to be disruptive on a global scale,” Ethier tells us.
The critical technical differentiator relative to conventional geothermal is that Eavor constructs what is effectively a subsurface heat exchanger that relies only on conductive heat transfer, rather than convection or reservoir fluid flow.
This design removes the need for a rare hydrothermal source, requires no fracking, has minimal water use, and dramatically reduces the complex resource characterization cost, time, and risk associated with conventional geothermal reservoirs.
Additionally, the system has a highly predictable output and is truly dispatchable without a reduced capacity factor. These features allow Eavor-Loop™ technology to be financed and scaled with a standardized, repetitive manufacturing approach similar to wind or solar.
“Eavor’s technology allows for scale like no other geothermal option does,” acclaims Ethier.
The basic Eavor-Loop™ design consists of drilling open-hole multilateral wellbores from a vertical cased wellbore, intersecting them at depth with magnetic ranging, and sealing the multilateral section with a chemical sealant known as Rock-Pipe™.
By removing geological risk and enabling a fast project cycle time, characterized by a repetitive, standardized system where gains via a learning curve can have a real impact, closed-loop geothermal can be scaled quickly.
“Eavor’s circulating fluid is not from a subsurface reservoir, but is made up primarily of water, or what’s known as a working fluid, added at the surface then circulated to harvest heat from deep in the earth,” Ethier informs us.
“This water is then used to generate electricity or for direct heating and/or cooling applications.”
The technology is location independent since the target is heat, which is always found in the subsurface.
Therefore, there is no need for high-temperature volcanic rocks, permeable aquifers, or hydrothermal flow capacity. This simplification makes it possible to scale up using repeatable, standardized wells without being held back by a scarce resource and high-risk exploration.
FIRST COMMERCIAL PROJECT
In seven short years, the company has raised over CAD$315 million in equity, and is proud to have investors such as bp Ventures, OMV, Chubu Electric Power, Vickers Venture Partners, Temasek, Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, Canada Growth Fund, BDC Capital, Kajima Corporation, BHP Ventures, Precision Drilling, and Helmerich & Payne, Inc.
“We are extremely proud of the investors who have entrusted us with their capital for our endeavor,” prides Ethier.
“The investors come from diverse backgrounds, but what they all have in common is an extremely impressive knowledge of the energy space.”
2019 was an instrumental year for Eavor as the company utilized capital investment, as well as federal and provincial grants, to commence the construction of Eavor-Lite™.
This full-scale demonstration site has been operational for four years and allowed Eavor to move forward with other projects and investments.
Without Eavor-Lite™, the company would also not have been awarded a €91.6 million EU Innovation Fund grant for its first commercial project, Eavor-Europe™, which is currently being drilled south of Munich, Germany.
“We had an inaugural event in August 2023 and were fortunate to have German Chancellor Scholz as a keynote speaker, where he discussed the attributes of our solution and the potential in the German market to provide energy security and autonomy for both their heating and electrical needs,” Ethier shares.
The invasion of Ukraine amplified the need for energy security, as Europe saw a massive increase in energy prices, which were subsidized by governments to ensure that local citizens could provide heat and electricity for their homes and businesses.
As a result, Eavor has seen a shift in focus from decarbonization to energy security.
“Our first project will not only feed electrons into the German grid, but also supply heat for the neighboring village’s district heating networks, which are soon to be built,” discloses Ethier.
As well as acting as a catalyst to continue to advance projects currently in the company’s pipeline, Eavor-Europe™ has caught the attention of counterparties looking for alternatives to their reliance on Russian gas.
“I believe this commercial project will increase inquiries dramatically, both in Europe and abroad,” he adds.
DIVERSITY OF PROJECTS
The need for energy security and resiliency has been deemed a critical mission by the US Department of Defense (DOD) to ensure the nation’s security.
Recently, Eavor signed an Other Transaction for Prototype Agreement with the DOD for an evaluation of the geothermal potential at Joint Base San Antonio.
In partnership with Chesapeake Energy, Eavor will assume a leading role in the contract execution, guided by the oversight of the Air Force Office of Energy Assurance.
This prototype aims to fortify defense infrastructure and deliver reliable, clean energy, regardless of electrical grid disruptions.
As well as commercializing its proven technology components through the execution of Eavor-Europe™, the capital that has been raised is being used to advance the company’s technology through continued R&D efforts and develop its global portfolio of projects.
“We are being very careful in the deployment of these funds to maximize value for shareholders and advance the technology to lead to widespread adoption,” assures Ethier.
Following on from Eavor-Europe™, one of Eavor’s next planned projects is to decarbonize the district heating network in Hanover, Germany.
The company has signed a heat supply contract with the regional utility, Enercity AG, to supply up to 30 megawatts (MW) of geothermal heat for the district heating grid of Hanover using the Eavor-Loop™ technology.
GEOZONE INITIATIVE
Eavor has also signed a cooperation agreement with Sonoma Clean Power (SCP) for the development of up to 200 MW equivalent of new geothermal energy through the GeoZone initiative in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties, California, with unanimous SCP board approval in March 2023.
SCP established the GeoZone initiative with three main objectives, to develop: a geothermal resource with minimal water use, a geothermal resource compatible with community values, including land use, and a solution that is scalable and cost-competitive.
“We have been evaluating the GeoZone opportunity over the last nine months and are excited about the opportunity to expand regional geothermal power sources in the region,” Ethier divulges.
The company also signed a 20 MW power purchase agreement (PPA) with NV Energy in November 2022 and received approval from the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) in May 2023.
“We are currently progressing the project and are excited about delivering dispatchable power to this market.”
As well as evaluating electricity in North America, Eavor is looking at direct heating applications, which make the most efficient use of energy from the subsurface.
A feasibility study has been completed, together with Enwave, for Toronto’s district heating network, and the company is currently undertaking another feasibility study with Creative Energy in Vancouver.
GLOBAL EXPANSION
People are core to the innovation and execution of Eavor’s technology, whilst the relationships it has built with partners and suppliers are also paramount to its success.
Developing these relationships with trust and transparency allows the company to move its technology forward at a faster pace, and the project pipeline to be more robust as stakeholders can understand the value proposition and integrate it into their decarbonization and energy security plans.
Looking ahead, Eavor seeks to continue to expand globally.
Currently, the company’s two primary markets are direct heat applications in Europe and electricity in the Western US.
However, these are not the only areas it focuses on, as Eavor is also engaging with counterparties looking for solutions to their energy problems.
“Whether they are concerned with energy security, autonomy, resiliency, reliability, local employment, climate change, decarbonization, or affordability, Eavor’s technology can meet all of these challenges,” Ethier states proudly.
“We have resources everywhere with the ability to address the global energy security problem. The issue, up to this point, has been the lack of technology with the ability to tap into this energy in the subsurface in an economical way.
“The excitement of being able to talk to a government that historically has had no hydrocarbons and explain to them that they could have energy security and independence is such an exciting conversation to have,” he adds.
Island markets with extremely high emissions intensity are another area of interest for Ethier, who would like to see the company’s Eavor-Loop™ technology in every country on the planet.
Indeed, Eavor’s goal is to have thousands of these systems built as quickly as possible to have a meaningful impact on the two existential threats facing the world today – climate change and energy security.
“There is currently a lot of inequity in access to energy, and this is one of the reasons that I come to work every day – to advance our technology and provide another solution for a local source of energy. We believe Eavor can change the world,” Ethier concludes.
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