Calgary-based Eavor Technologies Inc. (“Eavor”) has been making headlines in Canada for its novel Eavor-Loop technology. They completed their pilot project near Rocky Mountain House, AB in February 2020. This news followed the announcement in January 2020 that Eavor Yukon partnered with Carmacks Development Corporation (CDC) to develop Eavor-Loop in Yukon.
The following news piece was announced on May 1, 2020 by Eavor:
CALGARY, Alberta and MUNICH, Germany, May 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eavor is pleased to announce Enex Power Germany GmbH (“Enex”) and Eavor Technologies Inc. (“Eavor”) have entered into a letter of intent to form a geothermal project development company to construct Eavor-Loop™ heat and power projects within Enex’s existing geothermal license area in Bavaria, Germany.
Under the arrangement, Enex will contribute existing geothermal assets to the new development entity, including:
rights to utilize Enex’s existing geothermal lease for the development of Eavor-Loops;
an existing surface lease and drill pad strategically located in an industrial development zone;
access rights for the interconnection and delivery of electricity to the local distribution grid;
an opportunity to potentially sell heat produced by the project to the town of Geretsried for district heating.
Additionally, Enex will continue to provide certain management and project continuity services, based on their local relationships and knowledge obtained over the last 10 years conducting their own local geothermal activities.
Electricity produced by the project will be eligible for payments under the German EEG 2017 Act. The EEG is a form of Feed-In-Tariff under which the German government augments the electricity price received for a period of 20 years from the date the project is first commissioned. Based on a 2022 commissioning date, the EEG payment will result in a fixed power price of €227/MWh (approx. CAD $344/MWh) until 2042.
Eavor and Enex have been working on the arrangement since January. Front end engineering and design (FEED) of the Project is expected to be completed this summer. Pending regulatory approvals and project financing, construction is planned to commence in early 2021.
Background to the Arrangement
The geothermal concession/lease was initially granted in 2004 to Enex. Since 2004 two exploratory geothermal wells were drilled at a cost in excess of €30 million, with the latest well drilled in 2017. Neither of the two wells were able to deliver enough hot hydrothermal water to enable the economic development of a traditional geothermal project. However, both wells confirmed a geothermal gradient or formation temperature well suited for the commercial development of Eavor-Loops and the production of electricity and commercial heat suitable for district heating and industrial processes.
Given the long history of the project, the extensive prior community engagement, the existing regulatory approvals, the existing infrastructure, and the excellent reputation and relationships of Enex in the community this project is an ideal candidate for the rapid deployment of Eavor-Loop.
About Eavor and Eavor-Loop™
Eavor (pronounced “Ever”) is a technology-based energy company led by a team dedicated to creating a clean, reliable and affordable energy future on a global scale. Eavor’s solution (Eavor-Loop™) represents the world’s first truly scalable form of green baseload power. Eavor achieves this by mitigating or eliminating many of the issues that have hindered traditional geothermal solutions. As a completely closed-loop system, Eavor has the advantage of no fracking, no GHG emissions, no earthquake risk, no water use, no produced brine or solids, and no aquifer contamination. Eavor instead circulates a benign working fluid which is completely isolated from the environment in a closed-loop, through a massive subsurface radiator. This “radiator” simply collects heat from the natural geothermal gradient of the Earth via conduction, at geologically common and drilling accessible rock temperatures. Unlike traditional geothermal, Eavor is not burdened with exploratory risk or limited to niche geographies through the need for highly permeable aquifers at volcanic-like temperatures. Unlike wind and solar, Eavor-Loop™ is not intermittent, but instead produces much-needed reliable baseload power. Eavor-Loop™ plus solar provides a way to offset the intermittency and daylight profile of solar without the need for batteries. With Eavor-Loop™, Earth is your Battery™, and it comes pre-charged for 30+ years of zero-emission, clean, dispatchable generation.
In Canada, Eavor has been operating a $10 million pilot/demonstration project since 2019 which is available for customer or investor tours.