Press Information
The Eavor-Europe™ project site in Geretsried attracted a lively crowd of government officials, engineers, geologists, policymakers, and media on Thursday, August 24, to attend the inauguration of Eavor’s first commercial power plant. Among the most prominent participants were German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Bavarian Premier Markus Söder, Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger and Alberta’s Minister for the Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Schulz.
During his participation in the event, Scholz emphasized the importance of promoting innovative ideas like the one in Geretsried, as they have a real chance of bringing “new prosperity.”
In addition, Scholz noted that using this clean energy to generate heat is “self-evident,” especially in view of Germany’s goal of net-zero emissions, because “it is always there.”
Several articles described the history of drilling tests in Geretsried in search of hot water, which, however, did not lead to any results for a feasible conventional geothermal extraction. The subsurface landscape in Geretsried has an average geothermal gradient, and according to John Redfern, CEO of Eavor, this was one of the reasons for the development there. “It was more of a location that proved impossible for a geothermal development. That was, of course, part of the mission. Anyone can produce geothermal energy in one of its specialized niche areas where it traditionally works – Iceland, for example. However, demonstrating geothermal energy in Iceland will not impress anyone. To prove that we are a truly scalable solution that can be used anywhere, we need to be able to demonstrate that in a more typical location like Geretsried,” said Redfern.
This solution eliminates costly exploration risks. In Eavor’s case, the presence of hot water for heat extraction is not necessary, which means that the technology could be used practically anywhere, as Daniel Mölk, EVP and President of Eavor GmbH, explained to the press representatives during a tour. “The subsoil here is very well known from preliminary tests,” said Mölk, explaining that valuable data for further commercialization is to be collected at this location. ”The system is designed to be more broadly applicable.” We want to take geothermal energy into mass production.” The possibility of mass production across Europe could be a viable proposition, as some scientists noted Eavor’s remarkable versatility.
According to Professor Rolf Bracke, the well-known head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Infrastructure and Geothermal Energy (IEG), Eavor has the potential to revolutionize energy production in areas where there is a lack of natural thermal water flow underground, opening up prospects for exploring the depths of Europe’s crystalline underground.
If the power generation in Geretsried proves successful, heat generation using an Eavor-Loop will be feasible in nearly every other region in Germany, according to Inga Moeck, a leading geoscientist and professor at the University of Göttingen.
The inauguration of Eavor’s first commercial power plant not only attracted numerous distinguished guests, but also showcased Eavor’s technology as a beacon of innovation and collaboration, demonstrating an ambition to expand further across the European continent.
