Geothermal – taking heat from the ground to create heat and electricity at scale – is moving rapidly as a viable and accessible energy source.
Driving its campaign are the problem-solvers with decades of oil and gas experience, switching their well and drilling expertise to renewable energy. Primeval Energy brings together geothermal expertise to enter the arena as an outlier with its flexible technology-agnostic approach.
“So much money is spent on training in oil and gas,” said CEO Andy Wood. “Everything needs to be faster, safer and more efficient; these skills are of course essential in geothermal energy.”
Primeval’s USP is not being shackled to a particular technology, which enables the company to focus on the right solution for clients.
“Our approach is different because it is about finding what is fit for purpose for each individual location, not a single technology we own,” said Andy.
“As a result, we can assess a geothermal field anywhere and look at the whole picture. We have a geothermal ‘toolbox’ that delivers the potential to provide open or closed-loop solutions. This flexibility in conjunction with our holistic approach enables us to provide optimised design.
“If a deep hot aquifer is present in acreage being appraised by a closed-loop focused company, a closed-loop solution will be offered. To optimise output from that location, an open-loop solution may potentially produce 10 times the output. This is where Primeval comes to the fore.”
Andy says that wider awareness that you “don’t have to be on top of a volcano” to create geothermal energy has accelerated its acceptance after many years of groundwork by the “real pioneers”, organisations like the Geothermal Energy Advancement Association.
“Direct heat will become far more commonplace,” he said. “The more interesting solutions like desalination in areas without water will provide not just drinking water but water for agricultural purposes. I find this particularly interesting. I like the idea of re-greening.”
There are numerous uses for direct heat. Industries such as breweries, distilleries, paper mills and others that need heat for production, as well as many building projects, are increasingly looking to geothermal, Andy said.
Primeval is working on its first two projects – one in the US and the other also outside the UK. Both projects are really game changing in locations where combined heat and power can be produced.
New geothermal companies are thriving, with the US and Canada leading the way.
“Eavor also has a massive project in Germany, which was visited by the German chancellor, spreading awareness further. Awareness creates potential end users identifying geothermal as the answer to their energy needs, ” said Andy.
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