Innovation

The Eavor Loop is a clean geothermal energy solution using as underground "closed-loop" approach. This means the Eavor loop Eavor circulates a fluid in a "closed-loop", similar to to a radiator collecting heat from the Earth crust, and bringing it to the surface via convection. The liquid in the radiator acts as an "Earth Battery" Unlike traditional geothermal, Eavor is testing their solution in sedimentary and igneous rock layers, and predicts their solution will be geologically agnostic, allowing Eavor-loops to be drilled in almost all layer conditions.

This solution avoids environmental polluting aspects of fracking, and beyond the initial build, is considered a zero-carbon solution. Also it has the benefits of not potentially triggering seismic activity, leading to healthier and happier communities.

Lastly, this solution is dispatchable, which means the power production can be efficiently turned on and off without impacting plant longevity and effectiveness. Though solar and wind are used as baseload energy sources, they must rely on battery backups to provide power into the evening. Eavor can instead disable operating during hours where solar or wind are efficiently operating, and turn on easily into the evening. This dispatchable quality enables cost efficient operation, which can improve people's lives worldwide, especially when considering many countries still are not using modern power distribution infrastructure and must either use polluting power sources, or impact access to energy (e.g. timed blackouts).

In summary the Eavor loop is a clean energy production solution that can work in complement to solar and wind, under a broad variety of operating conditions, and get us sustainable access to the energy under our very feet.

Inspiration

Eavor started in 2017 with the idea to find uses for abandoned oil wells in Alberta, Canada. As those lands didn’t seem to be suited for traditional geothermal energy, they were forced to think of alternative uses. This eventually led to conceiving a closed-loop system that might allow them to harvest heat from the earth in conditions where traditional geothermal systems were not previously able to perform to high standards. They spent four years designing the model and solving problems until they made it viable to start attracting investors and growing the team.

Eavor's CEO John Redfern, an engineer, lawyer and MBA (INSEAD), has made a career in helping technology and energy start-ups grow and become commercially viable. He said: “With Eavor, me and my partners initially focused on helping certain start-ups rather than running them because once you do that it becomes a full-time job. This one was too interesting, so I had to drop everything and take that up.”

Overall impact

"Eavor-Loop has the potential to add great societal value from the perspective of the transition to clean power systems. Its ability to harness heat from the earth through a closed loop system greatly limits its impact on the environment, mitigating many of the issues traditionally associated to geothermal energy and other sources that seek to harness energy from the earth, such as hydraulic fracturing. The bulk of its potential resides in its scalability – Eavor-Loops could be potentially developed across the world. With each of them being able to power up to 16,000 houses for at least 30 years, it could become a great tool for communities across the globe to transition to clean power systems.

Climate change is arguably the greatest threat that humanity will face for the next decades and the need to stop greenhouse gas emissions and change the way that we produce energy has never been more urgent. From this perspective, if Eavor’s solution can be scaled, its impact could be enormous. "

Business benefit

Can be implemented almost anywhere at scale. Sites can exist close to urban centres or in remote locations where getting electrical power is historically challenging;

A single site can generate electricity for 16,000 homes.

Social and environmental benefit

Eavor is a profit-making company seeking to generate economic returns with the clean power generation solution that they designed. Considering the clear advantages that Eavor-Loop potential offer to produce clean power, if Eavor manages to scale up the idea and make it commercially viable, their business could potentially grow exponentially in the medium term.

Eavor's solution relies on multiple proprietary technology innovations, with multiple patents in the pending state they can use to license or defend revenue streams.

Eavor initially only accepted angel investment and venture capital. In early 2020, they raised $40 million including from BP and Chevron Ventures, which will be used to further research and development lower cost of developing the technology to generate cost reductions to customers.

Interview

John Redfern, CEO