Rodatherm raises $38 million Series A funding to support pioneering geothermal technology
Rodatherm has secured $38 million after a Series A funding round to support the pilot deployment of their pioneering closed-loop geothermal technology in Utah.
Geothermal power developer startup Rodatherm Energy Corporation (Rodatherm) has raised $38 million following an oversubscribed Series A funding round that will support the deployment of the company’s pioneering closed-loop geothermal in a pilot project in Utah. This aims to validate the technology at commercial scale and provide production data towards a target expansion to a full 100-MW system.
The financing was led by Evok Innovations and included participation from TDK Ventures, Toyota Ventures, TechEnergy Ventures, MCJ, Active Impact Investments, Renewal Funds, Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, Giga Investments, and others.
Rodatherm had previously been granted approval by the Bureau of Land Management for the Rodatherm Geothermal Test Bed project in Beaver and Millard counties in Utah.
Pioneering a new closed-loop geothermal system
Launched in 2022 with operations in both Utah and in Alberta, Canada, Roadtherm has developed a fully cased, pressurized, closed-loop geothermal system that is optimized for hot sedimentary basins, enabling both conductive and convective heat transfer from the reservoir. This loop serves as a conduit for the circulation of a working fluid that is used directly in a turbine, achieving 50% higher efficiency than water-based binary-cycle geothermal systems, with exceptionally low operating and maintenance costs.
As Rodatherm states, their optimized working fluid can extract the required heat from the subsurface reservoir with 5x less fluid compared to traditional water-based geothermal systems. As the system is fully closed, there will be no concerns over working fluid loss or contamination from the reservoir. The company also states that the system is composed of fully mature and commercialized technologies, and that the novelty of the system lies on its patented and modular design.
Rodatherm expects the advanced geothermal system to achieve competitive levelized costs of energy with firm power, including fossil fuels, at early project scale and have a decades long operating life.
“The geothermal industry is at an inflection point, and Rodatherm is uniquely positioned to deliver a scalable, cost-effective solution for clean, secure baseload power,” said Curtis Cook, CEO of Rodatherm. “This funding allows us to commercialize our technology and validate our pathway to a full power development project that will make a significant impact on the energy transition.”
A combination of vision and execution
The oversubscribed round, led by Evok Innovations, features a multitude of investors across the deep tech ecosystem. The financing included a group of leading corporate investors, including Toyota Ventures, TDK Ventures, and TechEnergy Ventures, who are committed to bringing significant strategic value to Rodatherm beyond their capital investment.
“Rodatherm’s breakthrough technology and proven leadership team have the potential to make clean, reliable, and affordable baseload power a global reality,” said Jane Kearns, Partner at Evok Innovations who has joined the Board of Directors . “At Evok, we are proud to back a team and system that can redefine what is possible for the energy transition.”
“At TDK Ventures, we seek to partner with entrepreneurs tackling the toughest problems in decarbonization,” said David Delfassy, Investment Director at TDK Ventures who has joined Rodatherm’s Board of Directors. “Rodatherm is uniquely positioned to bring geothermal energy to scale in the near term, without intensive capital requirements or decades-long timelines. That combination of vision and execution is rare, and it makes their approach especially compelling.”
Source: Rodatherm