| GA Drilling | |
| Location: | Bratislava, Slovakia |
| Key People: | Igor Kocis (CEO) Tomas Kristofic (CTO) Ivan Kocis (Chief Scientist) Dusan Kocis (COO) |
| Industry: | Geothermal energy, deep drilling |
GA Drilling (formerly Geothermal Anywhere) is a drilling and geothermal energy company in Bratislava, Slovakia with branches in Bristol (UK), Abu Dhabi (UAE), and headquartered in Houston (US). The company was founded in 1994 and rebranded as GA Drilling in August 2013.[1] GA Drilling is also active within the drilling community through participation in several industry events.[2]
Plasmabit is a pulsed plasma drilling system. A rotating plasma torch uses ionized gas at 6,000 °C (10,800 °F) to crack and weaken the rock, while high-pressure water mechanically removes rock chips and flushes them to the surface.[3]
Anchorbit progressively moves the borehead deeper into the well. It consists of two stacked collar sections behind the drill bit. Each section has four ranks of pistons that can extend and grip the bore shaft. The sections can move independently. While one section grips the bore, the other moves closer to the drill bit. Then the moving section grips while the other moves down. Drilling continues throughout the cycle. The company claims that it doubles the drilling rate through hard rock while doubling drill bit lifespan.
GA Drilling owns 23+ intellectual property rights (IPR‘s) for technologies in deep drilling and material disintegration in distinct patent zones (Patents were issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office, European Patent Office, GA Drilling Intellectual Property Office of Slovak Republic)[4]
R&D network
GA Drilling has created or is a co-founder of the network of technology organizations in the European Union, mainly in the Central European region.[5] Its partner network consists of Slovak (Slovak University of Technology, University of Zilina, Comenius University, institutes of the Slovak Academy of Sciences) and European organisations (Weatherford UK Ltd,[6] Imerys,[7] EGS Energy,[8] Altus Intervention UK[9]). GA Drilling is also a member of European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC), European Technology Platform on Renewable Heating and Cooling (ETP-RHC), East of England Energy Group (EEEGR), Energy Industries Council (EIC), as well as European Technology Platform on Sustainable Mineral Resources (ETP-SMR).
Agreement with Schoeller-Bleckmann
In July 2013, GA Drilling announced that it has concluded a technology development and strategic investment agreement with Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment, a maker of components for the oil service industry. The partnership is focused on the development of PLASMABIT technology and meeting major challenges of the drilling industry.[10] This partnership ensures component supplies are manufactured by SBO and allows GA Drilling to further develop its patented PLASMABIT technology. Investment supports the completion of 3rd generation of plasma disintegration devices and test-rig construction for drilling at deeper depths.
On 11 October 2012, GA Drilling established GA Drilling Technology Center in Bratislava, Slovakia.[11] The previous laboratory—Research Centre for Deep Drilling—was established On 10 November 2010, by Geothermal Anywhere on the premises of the Slovak Academy of Sciences.