Another “breakthrough” geothermal technology. Is this one real?

On Friday I covered Fervo which claims to have made a major geothermal breakthrough. Their approach does expand the number of locations conducive to geothermal, but with a catch. The catch is they use fracking. For some that will be an acceptable tradeoff. For others it will be a showstopper.

While I was putting the finishing touches on that post, coincidentally a Norton Rose Fulbright podcast hit my inbox on guess what – new geothermal development and technology.

I admit, I am not an expert on geothermal. I’m learning as I go. However, the company covered in the podcast seems to actually have what I would define as a breakthrough technology.

The company is Eavor. Neil Ethier, Vice President of Business Development for Eavor cited the same challenge with geothermal related to the rarity of suitable locations. The difference between Eavor and Fervo is Eavor has developed a technology that solves the problem without fracking.

Their approach is called Eavor-Loop which they describe as a closed-loop super deep industrial scale geo-exchange system. It is a conduction versus a convection-based system which the company says is critical to achieving scale.

The process involves drilling two vertical wells simultaneously that branch out to multi-laterals that are angled deep into the rock. The approach creates a subsurface radiator and eliminates the possibility of drilling a “dry hole.”

Eavor has the same challenges as any early-stage company: its approach is currently cost prohibitive. But the company is leveraging a generous geothermal-specific feed-in-tariff in Germany to get its first projects off the ground, or in this case – under it.

The company sites multiple ways to achieve the magic cost number of $70/mWh. These include deeper drilling, faster rate of penetration (ROP), improved financing, and lowering the cost of organic rankine cycles. The latter is a technology that converts low-temperature heat sources into mechanical energy.

The best part is that Eavor is a technology company with a strategy to license its approach. That means it will be available to the entire industry to leverage if it proves it can overcome the current obstacles to widespread commercialization.

This seems to be a much more exciting company to follow.