With this agreement, the participation of Chubu will provide the Japanese company with valuable experience and knowledge on the geothermal business. It is also an opportunity to explore the future applications of Eavor-Loop technology in Japan. Once the investment of Chubu has been completed, it will own approximately 40% of the stakes of the Geretsried project, with the other 60% owned by Eavor/Enex.
Chubu had already previously entered a strategic partnership to make direct investment in Eavor and support the commercialization of Eavor-Loop™ technology. Aiming for a decarbonized energy company, CHUBU is expanding its business territory on a global basis with the optimal business portfolio, which consists of 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) “new technologies”.
“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,” said Hiroki Sato, Division CEO of Global Business at Chubu.
Eavor Geretsried had recently broken ground on the Geretsried project which will be the first commercial deployment of the Eavor-Loop™ technology. Prior to this, a prototype project called Eavor-Lite™ had already been put up in Alberta, Canadaw which had been performance-validated in 2020 and hit a 2-year milestone at the end of 2021.
The Geretsried 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. Completion of the last loop and start of full-scale operations is planned by August 2026.
Diagram of the proposed Eavor-Loop system at Geretsried, Germany (source: Eavor)
This Project has received a EUR 91.6 million grant from the EU Innovation Fund.
“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,” commented John Redfern, President and CEO at Eavor.
