The federal Australian and state South Australian governments have awarded a pair of grants to local geothermal drilling start-up CoilRig to support the commercialisation of their innovative coiled tubing drilling rig.
Over the space of a few days, CoilRig secured a $450,000 Seed-Start grant from the South Australian government’s Research and Innovation Fund, as well as a further $250,000 Commercialisation and Growth grant through the federal government’s Industry Growth Program.
“We are excited to be a part of the Industry Growth Program which helps expand the pipeline of Australia’s emerging small and medium manufacturers in the National Reconstruction Fund priority areas,” said Kate McRostie, CEO & co-founder of CoilRig.
“We have been working with a business adviser from the Industry Growth Program for the last 12 months, which, along with the support from the UniSA Enterprise Partnerships Unit, has been an invaluable resource.”
“To have this funding will immensely help us to complete additional R&D, validate our results and market these to the renewables sector.”
The two grants are designed to help the Adelaide-based start-up commercialise its innovative coiled tubing drilling rig for the geothermal heat pump industry, which it has been developing in close collaboration with the University of South Australia, Minex CRC, and other industry partners, including US-based geothermal drilling companies.
Unlike traditional drill rigs that require drill rods to be connected and disconnected multiple times during drilling, CoilRig’s rig uses a continuous “coiled tubing” drill pipe which is wound onto a reel and unrolls as it drills into the ground – increasing both installation efficiency and safety.
This design also helps to reduce the bending and stretching of the tubing, meaning that it is capable of lasting up to three times longer than normal drill rigs, resulting in significant cost savings for rig operators.
It is also hoped that CoilRig’s new coiled tubing drilling rig will address one of the biggest barriers to consumer adoption of geothermal drilling, namely, the high upfront installation costs, which can account for up to 50 per cent of the total installation expense for residential geothermal heat pumps.
Such geothermal heat pump systems circulate fluid through a closed geo-loop of high-density plastic pipe which runs just a few feet below the planet’s surface, transferring heat from the earth into the building in winter and discharging the heat from the building into the earth in summer.
While such geothermal heat pump systems are more common in the United States than in Australia, the global market was nevertheless valued in 2023 at nearly $US12 billion, or around $A19 billion, with growth expected at around 5.6 per cent annually through the remainder of the decade.
CoilRig’s new drilling rig comes into play when drilling the necessary boreholes needed to install a geothermal heat pump system.
Funding from the federal and South Australian state governments will be used to undertake further product development and commercialisation, a process which involves lab testing, purchasing specialised software and materials, and on-site trials and testing with CoilRig’s existing US-based customer.
CoilRig will also use the funds to drive strategic market entry activities and attendance at local trade shows in the US East Coast market, as well as play an important role in building a Centre of Excellence based in Adelaide which will design and manufacture coiled tubing geothermal drilling rigs in Adelaide and for export to the world.
“CoilRig’s new drilling rig design is a significant advancement in the geothermal drilling industry, offering lower cost drilling, enhanced safety and greater efficiency,” said Soren Soe, director and co-founder, CoilRig.
“Our product represents a strategic shift towards more sustainable drilling practices and is poised to meet the growing demands of the renewable energy market.
“We see our technology leveraging local businesses and research institutions to create new revenue streams, while also driving growth in Australia’s renewable energy imports and exports.
“CoilRig are proudly South Australian owned and are extremely thankful to the Government of South Australia, as well as UniSA who have been an integral part of supporting them to expand into international markets.”
