Geretstried – site of Eavor Technologies German pilot project

The geothermal project in Geretsried is now seeing an update by Canadian technology company Eavor Technologies. The project saw two drilling campaigns in the past that did not produce the necessary results for further successful development in 2013 and 2017. Now, with its technology of a closed-loop system, Eavor is targeting to extract the good heat resource discovered in the earlier drilling campaigns. We previously reported on the plans.

Now, community foundation “Energie-Wende Oberland” has invited the population of Geretsried to an information event to provide information about the new geothermal technology. Eavor-Loop is the name of the new technology in which liquid is fed into the depths in a closed pipe system and clean energy is to be obtained on the surface.

Underfloor heating at a depth of 4.5 kilometers

Like underfloor heating, the pipe system is laid at a depth of 4,500 meters. In the hot rock layers, the liquid is heated to 120 degrees Celsius and rises back to the surface of the earth without the help of electric pumps, i.e. without additional energy expenditure. With the new technology, no hot water is obtained from deeper layers, so the tectonics in the subsurface remain stable.

Ideal conditions for geothermal energy in Geretsried

Daniel Mölk from Eavor Technologies told local media house Bayerischer Rundfunk that Geretsried had ideal conditions for the new technology. The test drillings in 2013 and 2017 were canceled without any results, but the rock layers with up to 170 degrees of geothermal heat are ideal for generating energy. The construction of four pipe systems in the rock deep in the earth and the power plant on the existing drilling site, which can generate up to 8 MW of electrical energy, cost EUR 200 million. If the city of Geretsried uses the energy as district heating, less electricity is fed into the grid.

Drilling campaign in Geretsried to kick-off in 2022

The city council has confirmed its interest in building a district heating network. The Oberland energy transition has calculated that the clean energy generated can save 40,000 tons of CO2 per year. The approval process via the Mining Office South with the government of Upper Bavaria is in the decisive phase. If everything goes as the investors and operators hope, construction of the first well is to begin in spring 2022. A total of four so-called loops, each with two boreholes, are planned. The technology is being used for the first time in Germany. The Canadian technology company Eavor Technologies has a test power plant in operation in the Rocky Mountains. The new technology in Geretsried could initiate a new development in the production of thermal energy worldwide.

Source: BR