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Geothermal energy in Geretsried:Building application for geothermal power plant approved

March 16, 2022, 9:45 pm

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After two failed attempts, geothermal energy in Gelting is to be made usable thanks to a new technology.

(Photo: Harry Wolfsbauer)

The city councillors vote in favour of the plant in Gelting. The first pipeline system is to be built this year.

By Susanne Hauck, Geretsried

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In the third attempt, it will hopefully work out with the coveted warmth from the depths. In any case, the city of Geretsried does not want to put any obstacles in the way of the project: The building committee of the city council unanimously cleared the way for a geothermal power plant in Gelting on Tuesday. The plant is being built in the forest near Hofgut Breitenbach, 2.5 kilometres south of Gelting and 3.5 kilometres west of Geretsried.

The planned power plant is located in the middle between the two drilling sites. The building permit also applies to the air coolers, the largest structure in the area with a circumference of 80 by 40 meters and a height of 14 meters, as well as to a switchgear building. Second Mayor Gerhard Meinl (CSU), who chaired the meeting on behalf of the project, was full of praise for the project - and for the courage of the investors, Enex GmbH, which has teamed up with the Canadian start-up Eavor: "Respect for the fact that they continue even after the failure of the first drilling attempts and put tens of millions into it."

Drilling has already been carried out twice at Gelting, but without success. A new technology is now to be used in the future drilling test. It should no longer matter whether enough hot water bubbles in the depths. Simply explained, the whole thing works like a kind of huge underfloor heating. Cold water is introduced in one place, heated at depth thanks to the hot rock and led back up at the other. Not even a pump is needed for this, because hot water is lighter and rises almost by itself. The first of the piping systems at a depth of 4500 meters is to be built this year, three more by 2024. The power plant will be built to make the geothermal energy usable and to supply the city accordingly. If everything goes according to plan, it would practically be like a six in the lottery for the energy transition in the city of Geretsried, which is still lagging behind its climate goals.

However, the approval procedures for geothermal energy are complex and time-consuming. While the power plant is subject to the municipal building permit, the mining authority must give its blessing for the underground water pipes. This procedure is also in the hot phase.