Why Germany is betting on Canadian clean energy tech.
At first glance, the drilling site about an hour south of Munich might seem like a traditional oil operation. Two towering rigs, reminiscent of those seen in Canada’s oil industry, soaring over the Bavarian countryside.
The system, called the Eavor-Loop, uses water circulated deep underground, where it is heated to around 120 C before being returned to the surface.
The project is expected to generate approximately 64 megawatts of heat and 8.2 megawatts of electrical power once complete. Eavor says that’ll be enough energy to heat and power approximately 20,000 homes in Geretsried, a town with a wider history in geothermal power.
The project aligns with the country’s broader renewable energy strategy, which the German government moved to fast-track last month by introducing legislative changes that aim to remove barriers to geothermal energy development and the expansion of heat pumps and heat storage systems.
A Canadian Connection
The innovative technology behind this plant was first developed over 7,000 kilometers away, on the abandoned well sites of Alberta.
“We asked ourselves, what else can we do with all these brownfield sites? Why not geothermal?” explained John Redfern, the president and CEO of Eavor.
The idea that spawned from those questions works a lot like a giant radiator.
Two vertical wellbores are drilled about 4.5 kilometers underground and then connected horizontally, creating a circuit, or “loop,” which circulates fluid using subsurface heat.
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[Interestingly to me, a decade ago I recommended to the Government of Alberta that it should take the province into this technology in a big way. Of course, they ignored that suggestion. Leave it to Germany to take it seriously. Ed.]