OMV and Eavor join forces in geothermal technology
- EUR 34 mn investment in next-generation geothermal energy technology
- 6.5% participation in Eavor Technologies Inc.
- OMV’s initial focus on the deployment of Eavor-Loop™ in Austria, Romania, and Germany
OMV today announced the acquisition of a 6.5% stake in Canadian privately-owned Eavor Technologies Inc. (“Eavor”) for the amount of EUR 34 million. 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.
Eavor’s technology is based on a closed loop system, installed in deep subsurface rock. Thereby, a working fluid is circulated between 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.
Berislav Gaso, OMV Executive Vice President for Energy, said, “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”
John Redfern, President, CEO and Co-Founder at Eavor, stated, “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”
Background information
About Eavor Technologies Inc.
Eavor (pronounced “Ever”) is a technology-based energy company led by a team dedicated to creating a clean, reliable, and affordable energy future on a global scale. Eavor’s solution (Eavor-Loop™) represents the world’s first truly scalable form of clean, dispatchable, baseload capable, and flexible heat and power. Eavor achieves this by mitigating or eliminating many of the issues that have traditionally hindered geothermal energy. Eavor instead circulates a benign working fluid that is completely isolated from the environment in a closed-loop, through a massive subsurface radiator. This radiator simply collects heat from the natural geothermal gradient of the Earth via conduction. Eavor has been supported by equity investments made by several leading global energy producers, investors, developers, and venture capital funds including Vickers Venture Partners, bp Ventures, Chubu Electric Power, BDC Capital (part of the Business Development Bank of Canada), Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek, Chevron Technology Ventures, BHP Ventures, Helmerich & Payne, Precision Drilling and now, OMV. info@eavor.com
OMV Aktiengesellschaft
With Group sales revenues of EUR 62 bn and a workforce of around 22,300 employees in 2022, OMV is amongst Austria’s largest listed industrial companies.
In Chemicals & Materials, OMV through its subsidiary Borealis, is one of the world’s leading providers of advanced and circular polyolefin solutions and a European market leader in base chemicals, fertilizers, and plastics recycling. Together with its two major joint ventures – Borouge (with ADNOC, in the UAE and Singapore) and Baystar™ (with TotalEnergies, in the USA) – Borealis supplies products and services to customers across the globe. OMV’s Fuels & Feedstock business produces and markets fuels as well as feedstock for the chemical industry, operates three refineries in Europe, and holds a 15% stake in a refining joint venture in the UAE. OMV operates around 1,800 filling stations in nine European countries. In the Energy segment, OMV explores and produces oil and gas in the four core regions of Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, North Sea, and Asia-Pacific. Average daily production in 2022 amounted to 392 kboe/d. Its activities also include the Low Carbon Business as well as the entire gas business.
OMV intends to transition from an integrated oil, gas, and chemicals company to become a leading provider of innovative and sustainable fuels, chemicals, and materials, while taking a leading global role in the circular economy. By switching over to a low-carbon business, OMV is striving to achieve net zero in all three Scopes by 2050 at the latest.
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