Eavor Technologies Inc.                            GEO0015

Written evidence submitted by Eavor Technologies Inc.

1.     Conventional vs ultra deep, Closed-Loop Geothermal

Geothermal energy has always been a niche energy resource for one simple reason….the geological conditions needed to find and extract hot water from depth are rare.  And yet the heat is always there if you go deep enough.  One approach that makes geothermal energy development possible anywhere is to leverage proven oil and gas drilling technologies and “simply” build an ultra-deep underground radiator.  The advantages of this approach are significant, as the diagram below illustrates.

From a technical perspective, an Eavor-Loop is essentially a large radiator buried thousands of meters below ground and that extracts heat from the earth purely through conduction, with no fluid exchange between the radiator sections and the heat reservoir – a closed loop.

2.     Ultra deep Closed-Loop Geothermal

Eavor’s ultra deep Closed-Loop geothermal approach makes geothermal scalable by removing the need for volcanic-type locations and permeable aquifers. The resulting solution is environmentally benign, with no water treatment issues, no fracking or earthquake risks (that are prevalent with traditional or Enhanced Geothermal Systems). An important differentiator of the Eavor-Loop technology is that it can be operated in dispatchable or load following mode. Energy can be stored in the sub-surface and extracted strategically by adjusting the flow rate and operating parameters to produce peak energy when required, all while maintaining a ~100% thermal capacity factor. This type of renewable, dispatchable, on-demand energy is a critical missing piece in the energy transition.

Since more than 50% of Europe’s energy is used for heat production, another gap is the current lack of a scalable form of low-cost, secure baseload and renewable heat.

By solving these two challenges, Eavor-Loop helps decarbonize the heat and power sectors. Moreover, the widespread adoption of Eavor-Loop technology will also assist in the achievement of global GHG emission reductions, as outlined in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and the directives of COP26 (the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference).

3.     Where has this been done before?

A pilot facility, at a depth of 2,500m, was constructed in 2019 in Alberta, Canada, to demonstrate the key technical elements of the Eavor-Loop. This project successfully demonstrated the ability to drill and intersect wells to create an Eavor-Loop, seal the laterals using proprietary Rock-Pipe completion technology, validate the thermodynamic performance of the system, and demonstrate thermosiphon operation with the working fluid circulating in the closed loop system without any parasitic pump load.  This has been operating since December 2019.  Hundreds of people from more than 30 different countries, including the UK, have visited the site since it began operating. Through the successful execution of that project, the technology has been advanced to the point that it is now ready for commercial-scale deployment.

4.     Commercial deployment in 2022

4.1         Geretsried, Germany

The first commercial project will be drilled in Geretsried, Germany at a depth of 4,500m, with construction commencing in October 2022 and first power being delivered in 2024.  The bottom hole temperatures are similar to those found at similar depths in the UK. 

The Project location was selected based on an existing traditional geothermal project which found heat but failed to find a suitable water source. The closed-loop project will be developed on one of the existing drill pads, leveraging the existing infrastructure as well as the progress made on permitting, stakeholder engagement, and offtake agreement preparation. Existing data gathered within the first project regarding the subsurface structure and heat gradients has minimized the risks of the Project. The Project is comprised of four Eavor-Loops, drilled from a common surface location, with power generation facilities and a heat transfer station adjacent to the drill pad to support heat and electricity sales once operational.

The thermal energy produced by the Eavor-Loops will be converted to electrical energy with a conventional Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) facility, and the heat will also be sold directly to a planned district heating network. The municipality of Geretsried has designed and planned the construction of a district heat network to service their community, with the intention of building this heat network following successful Eavor-Loop construction. Four Eavor-Loops and their corresponding surface facilities will deliver 60 MWth installed thermal capacity which can be sold as heat or converted to 8,2 MWe of gross installed electrical capacity (6,8 MWe net).

4.2         USA

A second commercial project, that will also begin construction in 2022, will generate power from a radiator drilled into the crystalline basement at a total depth of 6,800m.  It will be the deepest geothermal well ever drilled and further demonstrate the scalability of this “geothermal anywhere” technology.

Eavor is progressing many projects in Europe, Asia and the Americas where the technology can be replicated. These replicable projects are simply waiting on a first commercial implementation to enable subsequent financing.

Following the successful execution of the first commercial scale Eavor-Loops, any country will be able to start planning for energy independence and the full decarbonization of heating and power sectors. Eavor-Loop will complement solar and wind energy with its emissions-free, baseload or load following energy output.

 

5.     Potential value of ultra deep closed-loop geothermal to the UK

Over the past decade, wind and solar have been the renewable energy sources of choice. Both are intermittent power sources, while the transition to a net-zero carbon future needs a zero-emitting load-following resource (“ZELFR”). So far, this has not been found in geothermal energy due to a number of technical problems. As a real ZELFR technology, Eavor-Loop will be the world's first truly viable form of clean dispatchable and baseload heat and power.

On the power generation side Eavor-Loop has the potential to fill the gaps when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing.  It may also encourage cities in the UK to build out district heating networks confident in the fact that renewable heat is available beneath the city.

The UK has a long and successful track record of developing its oil and gas assets in the North Sea.  Much of that technology, along with the knowledge and skills of the people from that sector, can be redeployed to build geothermal energy at scale.

6.     The questions that always arise

There are two questions that always arise when presenting closed-loop geothermal energy technology.  The first is related to thermodynamics and an incorrect belief that the rock will cool down too quickly.  And once that objection is handled the next question is always about economics.  How can so much drilling deliver an economically viable power or heat price?

6.1         Thermodynamics

Over the last year a series of independently produced technical papers have been published looking at closed-loop geothermal systems.  Although the modelling work in many of these papers is sound most of them have not identified optimal designs and have therefore reached unsatisfactory conclusions.  This section provides links to each of these papers along with comments on their relevance to the technical and economic viability of Eavor-Loop development.

6.1.1       Model validation at Eavor-Lite

J D van Wees, TNO, Utrecht, Netherlands

https://www.eavor.com/what-the-experts-say/tno-eavor-loop-audit-report/

TNO were given access to the heat production data for Eavor-Lite.  They concluded that Eavor-Lite “shows production temperatures which are consistent with analytical model prediction, marked by an excellent correspondence of prediction and observation.  This close match also demonstrates that the flow rate and inlet temperature is sufficiently stable to use an analytical model for performance assessment.

6.1.2       Techno-Economic Performance of Eavor-Loop 2.0

Koenraad F. Beckers, Henry E. Johnston, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO

https://pangea.stanford.edu/ERE/db/GeoConf/papers/SGW/2022/Beckers.pdf

This NREL paper reinforces the substantial impact of our system design on LCOH/LCOE and serves as further validation of our thermodynamic and techno-economic calculations. To support this paper, Eavor supplied NREL with data from Eavor-Lite and a sample commercial well design. The subsurface, surface, and techno-economic modelling were done entirely by NREL based on their research and expertise in geothermal.

Because the research was done independently using only publicly available costs, NREL’s economic assumptions do vary slightly from Eavor’s market-based cost assumptions (in fact, we consider some of their cost assumptions to be slightly optimistic). Their assessment was done for a sample Eavor-Loop 2.0 design, which is our base design but does not include any of our targeted R&D or cost reduction initiatives to drop the levelized costs below what is suggested in the paper.  While the numbers are not exactly the same, we do agree with the paper’s key conclusions:

6.1.3       Techno-Economic Performance of Closed-Loop Geothermal Systems for Heat Production and Electricity Generation (Cornell University, published Dec 2021)

Koenraad F.Beckers, Nicolás Rangel-Jurado, Harish Chandrasekar, Adam J.Hawkins, Patrick M.Fulton, Jefferson W.Tester

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037565052100273X

The modelling in this paper is technically sound.  However, in their economic analysis, they use unoptimized designs and generally lower rock temperatures than we are which results in very high LCOE/LCOH values. For example:

6.1.4       Analysis and Optimization of a Closed Loop Geothermal System in Hot Rock Reservoirs (Sandia National Labs, presented at GRC 2021)

https://www.geothermal-library.org/index.php?mode=pubs&action=view&record=1034370

 

6.1.5       Evaluation of Closed-Loop Geothermal Heat Extraction Concepts Using Reservoir Simulation (Colorado School of Mines, presented at GRC 2021)

https://www.geothermal-library.org/index.php?mode=pubs&action=view&record=1034367

6.1.6       Geothermal Analysis Modeling and Simulation Using Idaho National Laboratory’s RELAP5-3D-PRONGHORN Coupled Codes (Idaho National Labs, presented at GRC 2021)

https://www.geothermal-library.org/index.php?mode=pubs&action=view&record=1034366

6.2         Drilling costs

One of the things that the drilling industry (oil and gas specifically) have demonstrated time and time again is that drilling costs will come down dramatically over time, particularly when drilling the same rock in the same location.  In the North American shale gas industry it used to take 3 months to drill and complete a long reach horizontal well.  It now takes 8 days and the economics, which people previously thought would never work, have been transformed.

Nobody expects the first ultra deep closed loop geothermal system to be economically viable without financial support.  The same was true of the first solar panel and the first offshore wind turbine.  The good news is that the path to unsubsidised heat and power is already visible and leverages mostly proven technologies from the oil and gas sector.

In the UK, where average temperature gradients are on the low end of the range, the path to commerciality relies on few new technology developments.  In the direct heat use example below there is a clear path to heat prices of €15/MWh.

At least part of this path is dependent on better drilling performance in hard rock.  Recent developments at the Forge project in Utah have broken records for drilling speeds in the crystalline basement as illustrated in the chart below.

 

 

 

7.     Conclusions

Eavor-Loop makes geothermal energy a scalable proposition for the first time.  Direct heat use is economically viable in the UK today using this technology.  And power production will become viable within a 5 year period.

 

July 2022