01/12/2025
British Drilling Association Equipment Innovation Award Winner 2025.
Dragon Drilling has been named the winner of the British Drilling Association (BDA) Equipment Innovation Award for 2025 for its ground source drilling loop testing equipment, FLoMaX.
FLoMaX is a purpose-built testing apparatus system designed to verify, at the point of installation, that the heat transfer loop of a ground source heating and cooling system is leak-free. The system also confirms that heat transfer fluid flow rates meet the original design specifications, helping to ensure performance, efficiency and long-term reliability.
One of the BDA’s stated objectives is to promote all-round best practice in the drilling industry and the award has confirmed its support for an essential component of this renewable energy technology.
The equipment has been gaining momentum across the geothermal and ground source heating/cooling sector since its launch at the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA) conference held in Illinois in March 2025. There was a follow up presentation at the New York Geothermal Organization (NY-GEO) conference at Saratoga Springs, who considered it to be a potential ‘game changer’.
Geoff Ellison, Chairman of the Dragon Drilling Group, commented, “Receiving this award from the BDA is really significant. To be recognised by the leading trade association for the drilling industry will provide confidence that ground source systems work as designed and do not leak potentially contaminating fluids into the environment. The FLoMaX has world-wide potential which is why it was launched in the USA earlier in the year. We have already obtained patents in the UK, Hong Kong & the USA and we have several patents pending in other countries. Support from the Welsh Government has been invaluable as has the input from Wrexham University.”
The innovation has received significant industry recognition recently, having been a finalist in the Made in Wales (Manufacturing Innovation Award) event and being one of the five featured products at the awards event of the Association of Decentralised Energy (ADE) in their publication Showcasing Innovation Report 2025, in November.
There is potential for further recognition. The FLoMaX is a finalist in the Scottish Green Energy Awards (Best Innovation Award – New Technology Products) event which will be held on the 4th December and it has been shortlisted for the CIBSE Building Performance Awards (Product or Innovation of the Year –Thermal Comfort) in 2026.
