KCA Deutag & Eavor GmbH Sign Contract to Drill Revolutionary Geothermal Power Project

DÜSSELDORF, Germany, Sept. 20, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Leading drilling, engineering and technology company KCA Deutag has announced that it has signed a contract with EAVOR ERDWÄRME GERETSRIED GmbH (“Eavor”) to provide two drilling rigs for the construction of Eavor’s first commercial Eavor-Loop™ system. 

Drilling and facility construction work will commence on the project near the town of Geretsried, Germany in 2023. The Eavor-Loop™ system differs from conventional geothermal solutions as it uses conduction to retrieve heat from the earth’s subsurface, resulting in a long-term, reliable and independent supply of renewable and sustainable energy. The completely closed loop system provides a highly scalable and predictable source of heat and power without exploration risk.

The two KCA Deutag drilling rigs, which are expected to start work at the end of the second quarter, will drill separate wellbores which will intersect approximately 5000m underground, allowing the continuous circulation of water which will draw heat from the subsurface rock and bring the energy to surface. Once the first system is successfully completed, which is expected to take just under one year, a further 3 Eavor-Loops are planned, creating a total subsurface length of around 60km. It is a revolutionary design, with an estimated continuous output of up to 9 MWe and up to 65 MW thermal capacity in the first development phase with the possibility to heat or power ~30,000 homes or businesses.

Ron Klunder, Country Manager at KCA Deutag, commented: “This is an exciting project that uses proven drilling technology to enable new, innovative ways to create sustainable energy – very much in line with our goals to play our role in the energy transition. It will utilise the two largest rigs in our European fleet and we look forward to applying our expertise and innovative approach to addressing this new challenge over the coming months.”

Daniel Moelk, Country Manager at Eavor, stated that: “Our technology is based on highest standards of health, safety and performance-oriented drilling operations. We use it to scale up geothermal energy through the successful development of closed-loop systems and thereby making it a key technology for energy transition and energy security plans in the future. We are excited to be working with KCA Deutag, a highly experienced drilling company to demonstrate the commercial viability and sustainability of our technology, especially considering the uniqueness of the simultaneous operation of two land drilling rigs at the same location with intersected wellbores in a highly safe and predictable manner.”

About KCA Deutag

With over 130 years of experience, KCA Deutag is a leading drilling, engineering and technology company working onshore and offshore with a focus on safety, quality and operational performance. We operate approximately 81 drilling rigs in 14 countries, either directly or through our affiliates, employing people in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, the Caspian Sea and Canada. KCA Deutag consists of our business units: Land, Offshore and Kenera. Land and Offshore are our operational divisions delivering safe, effective, trouble-free operations across 20 countries. Kenera brings together our design and engineering specialists RDS and land rig and oilfield manufacturer Bentec under one business unit. Kenera was established to expand our offering in both hydrocarbons and energy transition markets, with three dedicated segments covering innovative services, technology and engineering, and manufacturing. For further information on KCA Deutag please visit www.kcadeutag.com

About Eavor GmbH

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 clean, dispatchable, baseload capable, and flexible power. Eavor achieves this by mitigating or eliminating many of the issues that have traditionally hindered geothermal energy. Eavor instead circulates a benign working fluid that 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. Eavor has been supported by equity investments made by several leading global energy producers, investors, developers, and venture capital funds including bp, Temasek, Chevron Technology Ventures, BHP, Vickers Venture Partners, Helmerich & Payne, Precision Drilling and BDC Capital. For further information on Eavor, please visit https://www.eavor.com/ or https://eavor.de/