Our Innovation Analysts recently looked into emerging technologies and up-and-coming startups working on solutions for the energy sector. As there is a large number of startups working on a wide variety of solutions, we want to share our insights with you. This time, we are taking a look at 5 promising geothermal energy startups.
Heat Map: 5 Top Geothermal Energy Startups
Using our StartUs Insights Platform, covering 1.116.000+ startups & emerging companies, we looked at innovation in the field of energy. For this research, we identified 91 relevant solutions and picked 5 to showcase below. These companies were chosen based on a data-driven startup scouting approach, taking into account factors such as location, founding year, and technology among others. Depending on your specific criteria, the top picks might look entirely different.
The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights 5 startups & emerging companies developing geothermal energy solutions. Moreover, the Heat Map reveals regions that observe a high startup activity and illustrates the geographic distribution of all 91 companies we analyzed for this specific topic.
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Strada Global – Water Hammer Drilling Technology
Traditional drilling for off-shore geothermal energy involves shallow access regions and huge initial costs. The maintenance cost for drilling is normally higher as breaking down granite and other tougher layers increases wear and tear. As a result, startups and emerging companies work on solutions to bring down the production cost of geothermal energy and help to increase the availability of this renewable resource.
British startup Strada Global offers innovative geothermal drilling solutions to energy companies. They provide a patented drilling technology known as Water Hammer, which uses a dual circulation technique to improve drilling speed and performance. Conventional mud rotary drilling takes a long time whereas water hammer technology results in reduced maintenance costs and proves to be more effective. Additionally, this reduces capital expenses and ensures timely completion of a project.
Terrapin Geothermics – End-To-End Geothermal Power Project
Regions that have naturally colder climates throughout the year use considerable amounts of carbon-based fossil fuels to maintain more comfortable temperatures. The use of geothermal energy reduces carbon emissions and results in a shift toward cleaner energy. Large-scale geothermal projects usually require enormous amounts of capital, as well as joint efforts of government bodies and private organizations. Startups and emerging companies provide large scale geothermal projects with expertise and innovative technology to support rising energy requirements.
Canadian startup Terrapin Geothermics provides geothermal and waste-heat-to-power solutions. Their project Alberta No. 1 is a conventional 5 MegaWatt (MW) geothermal power plant. The earth heats the naturally occurring brine water and is brought to the surface. Moreover, this brine is stored in high-pressure reservoirs, transformed into electricity, and pumped back into the earth with minimal wastage. The startup has already received federal government funding of 25 million Canadian dollars to complete the project.
Waytinyoo – Localized Geothermal Power
Heat pumps use constant heat from the earth as an exchange medium instead of air. This is achievable at shallow depths such as 2 meters instead of 2000 meters in conventional geothermal power generation. Additionally, the shallow depths enable geothermal energy production to support the grid for additional supply. Startups and emerging companies work on innovative geothermal energy solutions on a small localized scale.
The French-based startup Waytinyoo provides temperature water loops for small-scale geothermal power harnessing. With the help of the soil’s environment, the water loop maintains a stable temperature throughout the year at 15 degrees celsius at a depth of 1.5 meters below ground. Furthermore, this allows for easy distribution of power to the grid and ensures availability at reduced rates.
Hybrixcel – Thermodynamic Rankine Cycle (TRC)
Conventional geothermal energy is produced with the help of vaporizing water and creating steam to generate power. Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology helps to substitute water with organic liquids as a heat exchanger since boiling water consumes more energy to be converted to steam. Lower boiling points of refrigerants and other organic liquids like butane help transfer energy to a mechanical turbine and generate electricity without loss of energy.
The Canadian startup Hybrixcel develops energy generation solutions for low-grade heat sources. With the help of TRC, the solution improves the efficiency of geothermal energy production. Furthermore, the startup offers solutions to mitigate power supply risks in military bases and off-grid locations.
GreenStorc – Heat Exchanger Fluid
Traditionally, steam-powered turbines generate electricity with the help of boiled water. Sustainable substitutes for water such as nitrogen possess lower boiling points than water and are more suitable for steam generation. Startups and emerging companies experiment and develop proprietary fluids that make energy generation at lower temperatures possible.
The UK-based startup GreenStorc provides sustainable energy generation solutions. GreenStorc’s proprietary fluid evaporates at 50 degrees centigrade and generates 250 times more steam than water. As a result, it can produce more energy at lower temperatures, which makes small-scale power generation sustainable at shallow depths.
What About The Other 86 Solutions?
While we believe data is key to creating insights it can be easy to be overwhelmed by it. Our ambition is to create a comprehensive overview and provide actionable innovation intelligence so you can achieve your goals faster. The 5 geothermal energy startups showcased above are promising examples out of 91 we analyzed for this article. To identify the most relevant solutions based on your specific criteria, get in touch
