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Geothermal project starts feeding district heating network in Holzkirchen, Bavaria

Geothermal project starts feeding district heating network in Holzkirchen, Bavaria ITAG drilling rig on site in Holzkirchen, Germany (Source: GW Holzkirchen)
Alexander Richter 21 Dec 2018

The geothermal project in Holzkirchen in Bavaria, Germany has started feeding the local district heating system with geothermal heat. Early in the new year, the project also expects to start production of electricity from the attached geothermal power plant.

The moment that so many in Holzkirchen in Bavaria/ Germany have been waiting for, finally happened yesterday when the geothermal project in the municipality fed heating for the first time into the local district heating network of the town. Just three years after the start of the drilling work, the project is now entering its “hot phase”.

The Holzkirchen geothermal project is a combined heat and power project, which we reported on yesterday.

“We have realized our plan to be able to feed district heating in the current heating season,” said Albert Götz, Managing Director of Gemeindewerke Holzkirchen, on the day of the premiere. However, the geothermal energy is still in trial operation. In the coming months, long-term pumping test will be carried out, in which the thermal water, which is around 150 centigrades, is first pumped to the surface at a reduced delivery rate of about 30 liters per second. Gradually, this will be increased to the maximum value of over 50 liters per second. From the first quarter of 2019, the power plant for power generation will go into trial operation in addition to the heating plant.

The pump was preceded by extensive tests of the entire measuring and control technology in the thermal water circuit and all the individual components of the system, which technical supervision firm TÜV has also scrutinized extensively.

“After years of effort, it was a very enjoyable moment for everyone involved, as the pump pumped water from a depth of over 5,000 meters for the first time,” remembers Götz. The joyous occasion he celebrated with Mayor Olaf von Löwis and some market councilors during a drink on the geothermal project site.

Source: Merkur