Geothermal power | Becoming a hot topic Geothermal power is enjoying a resurgence, and attracting growing interest worldwide
A recent significant development was Chubu Electric Power’s decision to participate in the Eavor-Loop™ project under development by Alberta (Canada) based start-up Eavor Technologies at Geretsried, Bavaria, Germany. Chubu is taking a 40% stake in Eavor Erdwärme Geretsried GmbH, the operating company for the project, and is already shareholder in Eavor itself.* Eavor holds the remaining 60% of Eavor Erdwärme Geretsried GmbH.
Eavor-Loop™ is a “closed-loop” concept for geothermal heat extraction in which a working fluid that is completely isolated from the below ground environment is circulated in subsurface pipework, “collecting heat from the natural geothermal gradient of the Earth via conduction.” Eavor (pronounced “Ever”), established in 2017, says this approach “represents the world’s first truly scalable form of clean, dispatchable, baseload capable, and flexible heat and power,” and achieves this by “mitigating or eliminating many of the issues that have traditionally hindered geothermal energy.”
Building on Eavor’s experience with a pilot installation in Canada and the Eavor-Deep™ deep drilling demonstration in New Mexico, the Geretsried project will see four closed loops installed about 4500 meters underground. It will be the first commercial application of Eavor- Loop™ technology.
The heated circulating fluid will be used to provide district heating (64 MWt) and for power generation (8.2 MWe) via an organic Rankine cycle (ORC).
The ORC technology provider is Turboden (part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group). Another key supplier is pipe maker Vallourec, which previously worked with Eavor on the New Mexico demo project.
Drilling of the first loop at Geretsried started in July 2023, with “partial commercial operations” – completion of first loop – expected in October 2024. Start of full-scale commercial operation, with all four loops completed, is targeted for August 2026.
This project is receiving a 91.6 million euro grant from the EU Innovation Fund.
150~160°C Limestone
Above: Visualisation of completed surface installations for Geretsried geothermal heat and power facility, Bavaria
Schematic of Geretsried geothermal heat and power plant. This shows a single loop (in red and blue). The Geretsried facility will have four such loops
Heat Pipeline for heat supply Pump
Horizontal well 24 legs Approx. 3000 m
2 vertical wells Approx. 4500 m
Heat exchanger Turbine Power Condenser To power grid
By participating, Chubu says it plans to acquire experience in and additional knowledge of the geothermal business, with the possibility of future applications of the Eavor-Loop™ technology in Japan.
The project also benefits. “Geretsried, with Chubu’s involvement, changes everything,” said John Redfern, Eavor president & CEO. In June 2023, Eavor completed the first close of their Series B equity round. OMV led the round with a €34 million investment and entered into a commercial agreement with Eavor to pursue large-scale deployment of Eavor-Loop™ technology in Europe and beyond.
Above: Location of Geretsried
Above: Drilling of the first loop underway at Geretsried (photo: Roland Horn)
26 | September 2023|
www.modernpowersystems.com
OMV will be focused initially on the deployment of Eavor-Loop™ in Austria, Romania, and Germany. In March 2023, Eavor announced the signing of a co-operation agreement with Sonoma Clean Power for the development of up to 200 MWe of new geothermal power through the GeoZone initiative in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties, California.
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