Eavor’s proprietary closed-loop technology will be deployed in an exploratory district heating project in the Estonian city of Narva.
Carlos Cariaga, reporter for energy news outlet ThinkGeoEnergy, covered the announcement of an agreement between Geothermal Baltic OÜ and Eesti Energia, otherwise known as Enefit, to develop a next-generation geothermal project using Eavor-Loop™ technology.
Published on February 15, Cariaga’s article cites sustainability and energy affordability as major motivating factors driving the project.
“The price of geothermal heating will be very competitive even in Narva where it is currently one of the lowest in Estonia, said Geothermal Baltic head Kaido Korm. “In addition, geothermal energy is stable and its price does not depend on the sudden price increases of other types of energy,” he added.
Narva, located in the northeastern corner of Estonia, not far from the Russian border, is home to almost 60,000 residents and boasts one of the largest district heating systems in the country, according to the online news source ERR.ee.
Despite Estonia’s proximity to Russia, infamous for its near-monopoly of European fuel supply and ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the country remains one of the most energy-independent nations in Europe, as noted in a 2022 article featured in the New York Times.
Enefit supplies Narva’s heating network with the cheapest energy in the country: EUR 39.83 per MW. By deploying Eavor-Loop™ technology, the utility company hopes to add the benefit of more than 15MW of carbon-free geothermal energy to Narva’s district heating network.
Geothermal Baltic is an Estonian-owned organization using Eavor’s ingenious Advanced Geothermal Systems technology in the Baltic region. The first steps of the project will involve a test borehole drilled on land owned by Enefit, and if successful, the project will supply locally sourced, clean, green heat to the existing district network.
The project is another milestone in Eavor’s efforts to commercialize closed-loop AGS in Europe and around the world. Eavor’s first commercial-scale project was initiated in Germany in late 2022, and has since garnered interest and support from local politicians and large-scale investors such as Deep Energy Capital.
And with the European Union’s ((targets)) of net zero by 2050 and upwards of 55% emissions reductions by the end of the decade, Eavor’s European momentum is likely in its beginning stages. Success like that seen in Geretsreid, Germany, and subsequent projects put Eavor one step closer to its goal: clean, baseload power for the world, ForEavor.
