Austria’s largest energy company OMV announced the acquisition of a 6.5 per cent stake in Canadian privately-owned Eavor Technologies for the amount of 34 million euros. Eavor is the leading closed-loop geothermal energy solution developer worldwide. In addition, OMV and Eavor have entered into a commercial agreement to pursue large-scale deployments of Eavor-Loop™ technology in Europe and beyond.
The commercial agreement establishes OMV as a key partner with preferred licensing terms, access to services and development support. OMV’s initial focus will be on the deployment of Eavor-Loop™ in Austria, Romania and Germany.
“We are excited about the partnership with Eavor and look forward to applying this next-generation geothermal energy technology to reach our green energy goals,” said Berislav Gaso, OMV Executive Vice President for Energy.
“We have been working with OMV for over a year on this partnership and continue to be impressed by their technical expertise and dedication to the energy transition,” added John Redfern, President, CEO and Co-Founder at Eavor.
Eavor’s technology is based on a closed-loop system, installed in deep subsurface rock. Thereby, a working fluid is circulated between the surface and deep subsurface rock in a closed loop and therefore heated up. The technology reduces the geological and hence operational risk significantly compared to normal hydrothermal systems with similar energy output. As Eavor Loop™ is truly scalable and applicable in various types of geological structures, it will enable OMV to offer heat solutions for district heating networks outside of the normal hydrothermal areas and therefore complement its existing portfolio of hydrothermal projects.
