AN Aberdeen-based oil and gas business has stepped into the geothermal energy market for the first time.
As part of the move, the company has rebranded from ClearWELL Oilfield Solutions to ClearWELL Energy "to better reflect its market position and ambitious growth strategy".
It said the geothermal move comes in answer to "a growing cross-sector demand for its chemical-free electromagnetic scale control technology".
Despite the challenges of a global pandemic, over the last 18 months the company has seen a surge in customer demand, it said.
It has invested in larger Aberdeen premises quadrupling its floorspace, invested in ongoing R&D, added manufacturing and testing facilities and increased its Aberdeen employee headcount by more than 300%.
It said that, having built a successful oil and gas business, ClearWELL is now experiencing increased interest from the geothermal sector, leading the company to undertake its first project of this type.
In February, ClearWELL’s scale control technology was installed for a major utility company at a geothermal power station in Germany.
The geothermal well at this facility had been severely affected by calcium carbonate scaling on the well casing, the electric submersible pump, the surface heat exchangers and filtering systems, resulting in pump failures and reduced efficiency. ClearWELL’s technology will protect this system from further scale buildup and its performance will be remotely monitored by satellite link.
Keith Coutts, chief executive at ClearWELL, said: “Entering the renewable energy market presents an exciting opportunity for business growth, with an estimated 400 suitable geothermal power and heat facilities that we could be supporting in Europe alone.
"Applying our skills and technology here will improve geothermal efficiency for asset owners, but also provide our business with a balanced energy portfolio and opportunity to improve our carbon offset. The European renewables market is an ideal springboard in our global growth ambition.
“ClearWELL technology is eminently suited to geothermal applications because variations in temperature, pressure, flow and liquid states are common and act as key contributing factors in the formation of scale. The use of chemical treatments is often prohibited in this sector, so with its environmentally friendly credentials, ClearWELL is a valuable flow assurance solution.”
Part of the FrontRow Energy Technology Group since 2017, ClearWELL has built a highly successful global business, despite early market challenges of lower oil prices and more recent Covid restrictions.
To date the company has installed over 250 of its non-invasive, chemical-free, scale control systems to support oil and gas production in Europe, Africa, North and South America, India, Asia and Australasia.
Spring Statement: Rishi Sunak sets out spending plans
THE Chancellor has announced an immediate cut to fuel tax, and a rise to tax-free wage threshold as a means of helping with the rising cost of living.
Setting out his Spring Statement in the Commons today, Rishi Sunak said he would cut the rate of tax on petrol by 5p per litre from 6pm this evening, to be kept in place until March 2023. In another major announcement, the Chancellor said he would be cutting income tax rates from 20p in the pound to 19p by the end of the current parliament in 2024.
Cost of living crisis: UK inflation hits 30-year high
ANNUAL UK consumer prices index inflation surged to a 30-year high of 6.2 per cent in February, once again coming in higher than expected, official figures show.
The inflation rate is up from 5.5% in January, and exceeded the median forecast of 5.9% in a poll of economists by Reuters.
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