As of: March 23, 2024, 9:00 a.m
By: Magnus Reitinger
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View of the Eavor company construction site in Geretsried (from the early days): Drilling began here in July 2023, first in depth, then horizontally.
The total is now around 7,500 meters.
© Eavor
Will there be an innovative geothermal energy project in Weilheim?
The company Eavor, which is currently exploring the area around the city, was now hopeful in the city council - and answered many questions.
Weilheim
- Since October 2023, Düsseldorf-based Eavor GmbH has had mining permission to search for geothermal energy in the so-called "Hardtfeld" - which stretches between Ammersee, Starnberger See and Polling.
Now the company, which belongs to a Canadian group, has presented itself to the Weilheim city council for the first time.
Two leading employees explained the new technology at the meeting on Thursday evening, commented on points of criticism - and expressed their confidence: "I am very optimistic that this will also work in Weilheim," said geologist Dr.
Carsten Reinhold, who leads the feasibility study.
The ongoing Eavor project in Geretsried is “a blueprint” for the local area with “similar conditions”.
In addition, the experience gained there would ultimately lead to cheaper prices here.
Tried and tested techniques are used “a little differently”.
In Geretsried, the company is already building a geothermal power plant with its innovative “Eavor Loop” technology (see box below).
In contrast to classic geothermal energy, no thermal water is required.
Similar to an underground heat exchanger, a heat medium circulates independently in the deep rock.
To do this, around 4,500 meters will be drilled, piped and cemented, and then 3,000 to 3,500 meters horizontally - the latter without pipes, but with rock sealing.
The techniques used have been tried and tested in oil and gas production for decades, explained Alexander Owolabi, head of business development at Eavor, to the city council: “We just use them a little differently.”
Heat prices in Germany are “very attractive” for the group
The plant in Geretsried, where four loops with two boreholes each are planned, will one day supply 65 megawatts of thermal energy and eight megawatts of electrical energy, thus saving 44,000 tons of CO2 per year.
Eavor currently has exploration licenses for a total of ten areas in Germany: three of them in Bavaria, the others in Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Hesse.
In Germany, “the geology is so beautiful” for the projects, Reinhold answered when asked why the company was looking here of all places.
In addition, the heat prices here are higher than elsewhere and are therefore “very attractive”.
Eavor is also active in other countries.
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City council members ask about critical points
Several city council members asked about details of the loop technology and also about criticisms of it.
It is a closed circuit in which “water is pumped very, very slowly,” explained Reinhold.
This requires a lot of loops, similar to underfloor heating.
All that is included is a water glass-based agent for compacting cavities.
This is “harmless,” emphasized the geologist, and in general “such a project is of course subject to water protection.”
The technology is also earthquake-proof.
The main criticism was the high investment costs at the beginning;
In the “overall projection” the whole thing is comparable in cost to conventional projects.
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When asked, Reinhold also responded to an open letter in which five geoscientists led by Bochum Professor Horst Rüter expressed great doubts about the feasibility of the technology: they were able to “refute” the criticism and the pilot plant, which has been running for four years Canada confirms Eavor's models.
The results of the feasibility study should be available in one year
Of course, in the Weilheim area you are only at the very beginning of a long path with an open ending.
Permission to explore geothermal energy runs until the end of September 2026 - which, according to company representatives, primarily means desk work, namely evaluating data.
Only seismic activity is permitted, no drilling, and every activity must be approved by the mining authority.
It is hoped to be able to present the results of a feasibility study in about a year.
In the positive case, contract negotiations and detailed planning would then take place; the approval phase would take around two years and the drilling would take another year.
Free voters: City should not take any financial risks
In Weilheim it would be purely about using heat, says Reinhold.
For a control center with a heat exchanger, “a building of perhaps 20 by 30 meters” would be necessary; there is no need for fans.
“And what can the city do?” was another question from the city council.
Reinhold replied, “we need secure customers” to build a district heating network.
A project company could be founded to operate a geothermal power plant, for example with the participation of the municipal utilities.
But a heat supply contract would also be conceivable.
2. Mayor Angelika Flock (CSU), as chair of the meeting, spoke of an “exciting, very hopeful project”.
On behalf of the BfW, Tillman Wahlefeld turned to the Eavor representatives: “I would be very happy if you were successful and we got heat at a good price.” “I hope that it works out – we urgently need something like that,” said environmental officer Stefan Emeis (Greens), while Susann Enders (FW) emphasized that “no financial risk should arise for the city”.
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The Eavor Company
The company Eavor Technologies Inc. was founded in Calgary/Canada in 2017, and there has been a German subsidiary based in Düsseldorf since 2019.
According to Eavor's press office, there was "equity participation from several world-leading energy companies, investors, developers and venture capital funds," including bp Ventures, Chubu Electric Power and BDC Capital.
Most recently, the Austrian OMV AG invested 34 million euros in the company, “with the aim of a large-scale introduction of Eavor Loop technology in Europe and beyond”.
Japanese energy companies, the Canadian government and Microsoft were also among the shareholders, reported Alexander Owolabi (Head of Business Development) and Dr.
Carsten Reinhold (Head of Geology) in the Weilheim city council.
The company has raised more than 300 million euros in private capital to date, with funding totaling 150 million euros.
The EU is supporting the construction of the plant in Geretsried with 91.6 million euros from the European Innovation Fund.
Loop 1 is scheduled to go into operation there this year, the three additional loops in 2026. For the company Eavor, which currently has a good 100 employees (around 40 of them in Germany), this project marks the beginning of the commercialization of the technology.
To date there is only one pilot and demonstration plant in Canada.