The Canada Growth Fund has made its inaugral investment in Eavor Technologies, a geothermal energy company based in Calgary. The CGF will provide Eavor with $90 million to “scale-up its business while retaining intellectual property and creating jobs in
Canada.”
The CGF is a $15 billion dollar fund that’s mandate is to “help transform and grow Canada’s economy at speed and scale on the path to net-zero [emissions].” It was first announced by the Minister of Finance in Canada’s Budget 2022.
“Eavor, a homegrown clean technology champion, has the potential to accelerate decarbonization of global heat and power markets,” said Patrick Charbonneau, CEO of CGF investment management, “and we’re proud to support this Alberta-based company as they scale up and grow their business worldwide.”
More than just spending taxpayer money, the CGF is also designed to invest in a way that will make it safer for private investors (domestic and foreign) to invest in Canadian climate-related projects.
Other private investors did support this particular venture. Eavor Technologies announced that it raised a total of $182 million; that includes the CGF’s investment as well as contributions from the Japan Energy Fund, Monaco Asset Management and Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund.
“We are delighted to have the support of our new investing partners and the continued commitment of existing partners while we advance the commerciality of our Eavor-Loop technology,” said John Redfern, president & CEO of Eavor, “beginning with our first full scale project already in construction at Geretsried in Germany. The funding received here today emboldens our efforts to deploy Eavor-Loop systems worldwide helping to drive us all towards a sustainable, reliable, and bright energy future.”
The Eavor-Loop is the company’s proprietary technology: a closed loop geothermal system. All geothermal systems take advantage of the earth’s consistent temperature, but open loop systems use ground water for the transmission of energy, while closed loop systems pump their own fluid through the pipes.
According to Charbonneau, we should expect more news about other investments soon. He said that the CGF is considering 60 total potential investments, with 20 being given priority, in an interview with The Globe and Mail.
Sources: CGF, Eavor Technologies, Budget Canada 2022, The Globe and Mail
Featured Image Via Eavor Technologies Inc.
