Press Release
Participation in the German Geretsried geothermal project~World’s first commercial project using Eavor's closed loop technology~
July 14, 2023
Chubu Electric Power Co.,Inc.
Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc. (“CHUBU”) has decided to participate in the world’s first geothermal power generation and district heat supply Eavor-LoopTM project (the "Project") by Eavor Technologies Inc. ("Eavor") in Bavaria, Germany, and has entered into an agreement to obtain equity shares of Eavor Erdwärme Geretsried GmbH ("Geretsried Project Company"), the operating company of the Project.
CHUBU will acquire shares in the Geretsried Project Company in the near future.
Eavor is a Canadian global startup company that leads the world in the research and development of closed loop geothermal technology (the "Eavor-Loop Technology"), with the aim of full commercialization. CHUBU has acquired shares in the company (as announced on October 14, 2022).
This Project will use the Eavor-Loop Technology to drill four closed loops approx. 5,000 meters deep underground, circulating water in the closed loop to efficiently extract underground heat for electric power generated using an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system, and for district heat supply. Drilling of the first loop has started in July 2023, with partial commercial operations expected in October 2024.
This Project is recognized as an innovative technology to achieve the transition to carbon neutrality and will receive 91.6 million euro grant from the EU Innovation Fund.
By participating in the Project, CHUBU will acquire experience and additional knowledge in the geothermal business. At the same time, CHUBU intends to consider the future applications of the Eavor-Loop Technology in Japan.
Hiroki Sato, Division CEO of Global Business at CHUBU, commented: “This is a significant milestone not only for CHUBU but also the journey of climate neutrality towards our global target on this planet. I am convinced that the Eavor-Loop Technology would be a true game-changer for the enhancement of renewable energy, and CHUBU is very excited to be working with Eavor through the world‘s first Eavor-Loop commercial project at Geretsried in Germany.
John Redfern, President & CEO at Eavor, stated that: “Eavor’s plan and Vision for global deployment of our technology rests on the foundation of partners like CHUBU. The involvement of CHUBU as a foundation partner and as a leader represents the next step in the rollout of our technology, its commercialization and shows our global scalability. Working with Eavor on commercial projects like Geretsried will enable CHUBU to accelerate their Global Business Strategy and to become a preferred partner for clean, green, renewable, power anywhere in the world. Eavor‘s solution is not only the missing element needed to fully decarbonize the worlds energy supply, it is also an opportunity for localized economies to obtain resilient, independent, autonomous, domestic energy resources. Geretsried, with CHUBU‘s involvement, changes everything".
In CHUBU’s global business, it will contribute to the realization of a carbon-free society and further increase earnings by optimally combining the four domains of (i) "green" business centered on renewable energy, (ii) “blue" business in relation to de-carbonization, (iii) “retail, power transmission and distribution, and new services” and (iv) “frontier” business.
【Summary of the Project】
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Location |
State of Bavaria, Germany |
|---|---|
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Output |
Electric power generation: approx. 8.2MW |
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Estimated annual electric power generation |
Approx. 77 million kWh (equivalent to approx. 18,000 households) |
|
Estimated annual district heat supply |
Approx. 56.0 million kWh (equivalent to approx. 200,000 households) |
|
Schedule |
|
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Shareholding company(Note) |
Eavor/Enex (approx. 60%), CHUBU (approx. 40%) |
(Note)After completion of investment by CHUBU
Appendix
Appendix1
Eavor's corporate profile and the Eavor-Loop Technology
1 Eavor’s corporate profile
|
Company name |
Eavor Technologies Inc.(Eavor Technologies Inc.) |
|---|---|
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Head Office |
Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
|
Established |
2017 |
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Business Activities |
Research and development of closed loop geothermal technologies, project foundation, provision of services, etc. |
|
Representative |
John Redfern (President & CEO) |
|
Investor |
Vickers Venture Partners, bp ventures, Temasek, OMV, Chubu Global Investment B.V.,Chevron Technology Ventures, BHP Ventures, BDC Capital, etc. |
|
Under development |
|
2 Eavor-Loop Technology
- A technology in which heat is extracted by injecting water or other fluid into the ground and circulating it in a closed loop underground. Eavor has developed a set of technologies for economically drilling and connecting a network of loops over thousands of meters, allowing water to be circulated in the closed loop to extract underground heat.
- The Eavor-Loop Technology involves circulating water in a closed loop underground to extract heat efficiently even in areas where hot water or steam cannot be sufficiently produced through conventional geothermal development. Therefore, this geothermal technology can be applied to development in a wide range of areas, and it avoids the risk of project development problems due to a shortage of hot water or steam underground.
- Geothermal power generation using this technology can function not only as a base load operation but also as a dispatchable (load-following & balancing) power source that stores heat underground during low demand and converts the stored heat into electricity during high demand. For these reasons, Eavor-Loop technology is expected to be a game-changer in the energy industry in the future.