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.”
