CALGARY, Alberta and TOKYO, Feb. 20, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Eavor Technologies Inc. (“Eavor”), the leader in globally scalable geothermal energy technology, has entered into an agreement with Kajima Corporation (“Kajima”) to receive a direct investment into the company.
The investment by Kajima demonstrates Eavor’s ability to attract capital from various entities and develop key partnerships with industry leaders worldwide. The Kajima investment not only strengthens Eavor’s balance sheet, enables the growth and deployment of Eavor’s technology in various market sectors, it also represents the third major investment in the company by a Japanese entity.
The investment aligns with Kajima’s aim to further its position as a leader in the energy transition in Japan, and beyond, while also integrates Kajima’s Environmental Vision of Triple Zero 2050, which recognizes carbon neutrality, circular economy, and nature positive as the key aspects of a sustainable society. With Eavor providing clean, dispatchable, baseload heat or power driven by a natural thermosiphon system, Eavor’s closed-loop technology naturally aligns with two of Kajima’s key sustainability objectives of carbon neutrality and circular economy. Furthermore, Eavor’s solution parallels with Kajima’s nature positive focus, given that Eavor’s system has a low ecological footprint, due to its limited surface area footprint.
Eavor-Loop™ utilizes heat from the natural geothermal gradient of the Earth, as opposed to tapping natural hot springs, which are commonly seen in geothermal activity areas in Japan.
Overall, with this investment, Kajima is making progress towards its sustainability goals, while also positioning themselves, similar to other partners in Eavor’s global ecosystem, to line up for Eavor’s game-changing global market opportunity.
“We’re very excited for the opportunity to grow and maintain a strong relationship with Kajima, this is fundamental to a long-lasting partnership and the growth of Eavor in Japan,” states John Redfern, President and CEO of Eavor.
“Changing electrical power sources to renewables is a major vehicle towards Carbon Neutrality. At Kajima we anticipate a vast potential in Eavor’s closed-loop geothermal systems,” states Michiya Uchida of Kajima.
Eavor’s solution, Eavor-Loop™, enables local energy autonomy and energy security virtually anywhere on the planet. Unlike conventional geothermal systems which require specific conditions such as niche geography or a permeable aquifer, the closed-loop geothermal system circulates a benign working fluid and retrieves heat from the earth’s subsurface through conduction.
About Kajima Corporation
Kajima Corporation is one of the oldest and largest construction companies in Japan. With a commitment to decarbonizing its supply chain and operations, Kajima Corporation is at the forefront of sustainable construction practices and innovative solutions. The company operates globally, with a strong presence in Asia, Europe, and North America. For more information, visit www.kajima.co.jp/english/welcome.html
About Eavor Technologies Inc.
Eavor (pronounced “Ever”) is a technology-based energy company led by a team dedicated to creating a clean, reliable, and affordable energy future on a global scale. Eavor’s solution (Eavor-Loop™) represents the world’s first truly scalable form of clean, dispatchable, baseload capable, and flexible heat and power. Eavor achieves this by mitigating or eliminating many of the issues that have traditionally hindered geothermal energy. Eavor instead circulates a benign working fluid that is completely isolated from the environment in a closed-loop, through a massive subsurface radiator. This radiator simply collects heat from the natural geothermal gradient of the Earth via conduction. Eavor has been supported by equity investments made by several leading global energy producers, investors, developers, and venture capital funds including Vickers Venture Partners, bp Ventures, Chubu Electric Power, BDC Capital, Temasek, BHP Ventures, the Canada Growth Fund, the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, and now, Kajima Corporation. info@eavor.com – Eavor.com
Contact
Eavor Technologies Inc.
John Redfern
President & CEO
press@eavor.com
Tel: +1-650-269-2501
(Bloomberg) — Foreign businesses’ direct investment into China last year increased by the lowest amount since the early 1990s, underscoring challenges for the nation as Beijing seeks more overseas funds to help its economy.
Most Read from Bloomberg
China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments stood at $33 billion last year, according to data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange released Sunday. That measure of new foreign investment into the country — which records monetary flows connected to foreign-owned entities in China — was 82% lower than the 2022 level and the lowest since 1993.
The data shows the effect of the Covid lockdowns and weak recovery last year. In a first since 1998, the investment fell in the third quarter of 2023, before recovering a bit to post growth in the final quarter.
SAFE’s data, which gauges net flows, can reflect trends in foreign company profits, as well as changes in the size of their operations in China, according to economists. Profits of foreign industrial firms in China dropped 6.7% last year from the prior year, according to National Bureau of Statistics data.
Earlier figures from the Ministry of Commerce showed new foreign direct investment into China fell last year to the lowest level in three years. MOFCOM’s figures don’t include reinvested earnings of existing foreign firms and are less volatile than the SAFE figures, economists have said.
Read more: China’s Foreign Direct Investment Drops to Near Four-Year Low
The government’s efforts to get overseas companies to return after Covid are falling short, and more will be needed if Beijing is to succeed in its aims. The continuing weakness highlights how foreign companies are pulling money out of the country due to geopolitical tensions and higher interest rates elsewhere.
There’s more incentive for multinationals to keep cash overseas rather than in China, because advanced economies have been raising interest rates when Beijing has been cutting them to stimulate the economy. A recent survey of Japanese firms in China showed most of those companies cut investment or kept it flat last year, and a majority don’t have a positive outlook for 2024.
Japanese companies added the least amount of net new money last year in at least a decade, with only 2.2% of new Japanese overseas investment going to the mainland. That was less than what was channeled into Vietnam or India and only about a quarter of the investment into Australia, according to Japanese government data released earlier this month.
Taiwanese firms have also become much more reluctant to add to their businesses in China, with new investment last year the lowest since 2001, government data showed last month. Taiwanese companies have traditionally been among the biggest investors in China but have been cutting new capital expenditure in the world’s second-largest economy since the peak in 2010.
South Korean firms also slashed investment into their close neighbor China last year, with new FDI dropping by 91% in the first nine months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, dropping to the lowest level since 2002.
Read more: The $9 Billion Chip Plant Stuck in Limbo of US-China Rivalry
However, there are some bright spots. Direct investment into China by German companies reached a record of nearly €12 billion ($13 billion) last year, according to a German Economic Institute report based on data from the Bundesbank.
That demonstrates an eagerness to expand in the world’s No. 2 economy even while the European Union steps up scrutiny of these investments because of security concerns. Investment in China as a share of Germany’s total direct investment abroad expanded to 10.3% last year — the highest since 2014, the report showed.
–With assistance from Erica Yokoyama and Sam Kim.
(Updates with Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese investment data.)
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.