TDK Corporation, announced that its corporate venture-capital subsidiary, TDK Ventures, is investing in geothermal power-generation company Rodatherm’s $38M Series A funding round. The strategic investment will help advance Rodatherm’s innovative closed-loop advanced geothermal system (AGS) technology, which promises to deliver affordable, long term, sustainable, and baseload energy.
Operating in stealth since 2022, and with operations in both Calgary, Alberta, Canada and Salt Lake City, Utah, Rodatherm has developed a fully cased, pressurized, closed-loop geothermal system optimized for sedimentary basins to enable both conductive and convective heat transfer into the working fluid. Rodatherm’s working fluid is fully isolated and used directly in a power-generating turbine, achieving 50% higher efficiency than water-based binary-cycle geothermal systems with exceptionally low operating and maintenance costs. Rodatherm’s advanced geothermal system is expected to achieve competitive levelized costs of energy with firm power, including fossil fuels, at early project scale and is designed to have an operating life lasting decades.
“We are thrilled to partner with Rodatherm as they redefine what’s possible in geothermal energy,” said Nicolas Sauvage, President of TDK Ventures. “This investment reflects TDK Ventures’ commitment to supporting transformative technologies that address critical global challenges, including the urgent need for clean and affordable energy. We believe geothermal can play a significant role in near-term energy generation, and Rodatherm’s innovative closed-loop system, combined with its strong leadership team, has the potential to unlock reliable, clean power for millions-an ambitious mission we are proud to help accelerate.”
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Led by CEO Curtis Cook, the Rodatherm team brings a fresh yet deeply informed perspective to geothermal, combining cutting-edge innovation with a clear understanding of the energy industry’s operational realities. Mr. Cook founded, led and built several successful energy corporations, including Vesta Energy Corp which commercialized a single well discovery into a successful company with an asset value well over $1B. The team has broad energy industry experience and a history of working together effectively in high impact environments, like geothermal.
“We are thrilled to have TDK Ventures join our valued group of investors,” said Curtis Cook, CEO of Rodatherm. “Their investment will accelerate the deployment of our geothermal technology, enabling us to bring reliable and cost-effective clean energy to market faster. We believe geothermal energy is poised to be a major contributor to the global energy transition. And with TDK Ventures assistance both financially, and in providing access to TDK Goodness, as well as the many synergy opportunities within TDK Corporation, our road to success is now shorter and smoother.”
Rodatherm will use the $38M Series A proceeds to build its first pilot system in Utah. The company intends for the site to demonstrate the ability to build and deploy its system within CapEx and OpEx projections and energy conversion efficiency projections. That in turn will enable the company to expand to a full power project development within Utah, leveraging non-dilutive project financing.
TDK Ventures’ Rodatherm investment is part of its $150 million (USD) multi-LP Fund EX1, which focuses on both European and North American-based electrification and decarbonization startups in Seed through Series B stages. It is part of the corporate venture capital firm’s commitment to advance cleantech and sustainable energy solutions worldwide.
SOURCE: Businesswire