Agreement to Jointly Evaluate Geothermal Projects

RNS Number : 1629M

GETECH Group plc

10 January 2023

 

10 January 2023

Getech Group plc

("Getech" or the "Company")

Agreement to Jointly Evaluate Geothermal Energy Projects

Getech (AIM : GTC), the geoenergy and green hydrogen company, is pleased to announce the signing of a Strategic Collaboration Agreement (the "Strategic Agreement") with Eavor Technology Inc. ("Eavor"), a global geothermal technology company (together the "Parties").

The Strategic Agreement will see the Parties work together to locate and de-risk multiple closed-loop geothermal projects for development across Latin America, a region with inherent strong heat-flow potential and rapidly growing green energy demand. See information included in this video: https://getech.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Getech-Eavor-a-Strategic-Geothermal-Partnership.mp4.

Highlights:

· The Parties will combine their highly complementary, unique, proprietary geothermal solutions, skills and technologies to deliver the agreed work:

o  Getech will deploy its industry-leading geoscience gravity and magnetics database, its proprietary Heat Seeker® software package and its asset analytics skills.

o  Eavor will deploy its closed-loop geothermal energy production system, Eavor-Loop™, as well as its growing knowledge base and proprietary technology for identifying and qualifying the best locations for geothermal energy production.

· The Parties will identify and screen the most technically and economically favourable Latin American geothermal sites for development as sources of clean, baseload and flexible energy for heating, cooling and green electricity.

· Priority will be given to locations where multiple closed-loops can be deployed, in order to allow for quick scale-up and to minimise investment. Value can then be built by advancing assets through commercial and technical feasibility, and where appropriate, securing licences.

· The Parties will retain the commercial optionality to either realise asset value pre-development through farm-down/sale to a third party (retaining the potential to provide ongoing development support) or to proceed as development investors.

Geothermal energy represents a significant growth opportunity for Latin America and the Caribbean, with the Inter-American Development Bank noting geothermal potential in the region between 55GW and 70GW, most of which remains unharnessed.

Getech will use its foundation geospatial and economic modelling skills to locate and quantify aboveground demand for heat and/or power. The Company will then combine this analysis with its unique geoscience data, proprietary heat flow models, and spatial analytic software, to deliver integrated geothermal solutions.

Dr Jonathan Copus, Getech CEO said:

"This exciting agreement with Eavor is an important first step in building Getech's global geothermal asset portfolio. By integrating our geoscience data and geospatial/economic modelling skills with Eavor's development technology, it will be possible to establish geothermal development assets of significant scale.

Having located and de-risked the development of these assets, Getech will retain the option to unlock value either through their sale to a third-party developer, or proceed to participate in their development, thereby expanding our geoenergy and green hydrogen project investment portfolio.  Where appropriate, we will also work to expand project value by identifying co-location opportunities that leverage our expertise in green hydrogen production. 

This collaboration agreement builds on a strong relationship we have established with Eavor by providing them with our foundation products and services. It illustrates how we can unlock strategic partnerships, thereby bringing transformational value to Getech shareholders."

John Redfern, Eavor CEO said:

"We are currently focused on the development of a subset of high-quality geothermal projects, constituting a fundamental step in our work to commercialise and "productise" the Eavor-Loops™ technology. Our ultimate goal is for hundreds of companies to develop Eavor-Loops™ around the world, including in Latin America.

We believe that our strategic partnership with Getech, under which we are collaborating in the evaluation of a large pipeline of fully qualified projects, will facilitate this. We are excited by the prospect of accelerating the market adoption of Eavor-Loop™ and, in turn, enabling many countries and companies to be more aggressive in a shorter timeframe with their own energy transition plans to net zero."

For further information, please contact:

Getech Group plc Jonathan Copus, Chief Executive	Tel:  [phone]
Cenkos Securities plc Neil McDonald / Pete Lynch (Corporate Finance) Michael Johnson / Dale Bellis (Sales)	Tel:  [phone]
Camarco Tom Huddart / Toby Strong / Charles Dingwall	Tel:  [phone]

Background information:

What is geothermal energy?

Geothermal energy is a renewable, clean energy source derived from inside the earth. It can provide nearly unlimited low-carbon energy with widespread and constant availability regardless of the weather or time of day. This sets it apart from intermittent renewables such as wind and solar.

Depending on its characteristics, geothermal energy can be used for heating and cooling purposes or be harnessed to generate clean electricity. It can deliver both baseload and dispatchable energy and can be utilised in industrial, agricultural, commercial, or domestic settings. Electricity can be fed into the grid or used for green hydrogen generation. Heat can be distributed via district heating networks or via pipework to local agricultural or industrial users.

For further information, see this video: https://getech.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Getech-Geothermal-Accelerating-the-Energy-Transition.mp4 .

About Heat Seeker ®

Heat Seeker ® uses advanced GIS workflows and machine learning to integrate geophysical, geological, commercial and social data to define the optimal location for geothermal developments. This innovative offering brings together Getech products originally developed for customers in the petroleum industry, which through investment have been repurposed to locate, de-risk and develop sources of low carbon energy. Heat Seeker® enables the rapid identification of sites which are highly prospective for geothermal energy - lowering risk, increasing profit-margins, and ultimately reducing payback times and returns in geothermal projects.

About Eavor-Loop™

Eavor-Loop™ is a closed-loop geothermal energy extraction system which works like a large-scale subsurface radiator to collect heat from the earth via conduction, and to generate electricity and commercial-scale heating and cooling. A proprietary working fluid is contained and circulated within the closed loop to create an efficient radiator, much like a vehicle radiator circulates fluid in a closed loop. Being an industrial scale geothermal system, it mitigates many of the issues with traditional geothermal systems, which rely upon using wells to produce brine from a subsurface aquifer. The system can be utilised globally to unlock the world's first truly scalable form of clean, baseload and dispatchable power.

A single Eavor-Loop™ has the potential to provide between 2MW and 10MW of electrical power. With the capacity to include 10 Eavor-Loops per well pad, the surface footprint required for 1GW of power generation would be as small as 0.5 sq km.

What are closed-loop geothermal projects?

All geothermal systems use ground loops to capture the temperature of the earth to provide heating and / or cooling. There are several different approaches to ground loop design, but they all fall under two basic categories: closed-loop and open-loop. See 'About Eavor-Loop™' above for more information on closed-loop systems.

Notes to editors:

Getech (AIM: GTC)  applies its world-leading geoscience data and unique geospatial software products to accelerate the energy transition by locating, developing and operating geoenergy and green hydrogen projects. For further information, please visit www.getech.com .

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 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, Temasek, Chevron Technology Ventures, BHP Ventures, Helmerich & Payne, Precision Drilling, BDC Capital and CHUBU. Further details can be found at www.eavor.com .

 

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