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Linde Engineering, Cryostar SAS to build turn-key plant for Kirchweidach, Germany

Linde Engineering, Cryostar SAS to build turn-key plant for Kirchweidach, Germany Drilling rig at Kirchweidach, Bavaria, Germany (source: Herrenknecht)
Alexander Richter 17 Feb 2012

Linde Engineering and Cryostar SAS are to build the turn-key geothermal power plant for GEOenergie Kirchweidach a combined heat and power geothermal power plant project in Bavaria, Germany. Cryostar will provide the ORC unit for the plant.

Reported yesterday from Germany, “Linde Engineering Dresden GmbH, a subsidiary of the Linde Group, is set to build a turn-key geothermal power plant for GEOenergie Kirchweidach GmbH at their Kirchweidach site in Germany.

“Geothermal power plants represent a new product on the market for innovative plants generating clean energy. With this project, Linde is opening up a new and forward-looking business field,” says Jörg Linsenmaier, Managing Director of Linde Engineering Dresden GmbH. “The market volume for geothermal plants is estimated at several hundred million euros in Germany alone.”

The plant uses the ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) process to generate approximately 38,640 MWh of electrical energy from hot geothermal water, which is brought from a depth of about 4000 m. The geothermal power plant is capable of supplying power to 12,880 homes. In the vast field of regenerative energy production, geothermal energy stands out because of its base load capacity. It is unaffected by the weather and day-night cycle and is therefore available around the clock.

Linde Engineering Dresden GmbH will be responsible for the engineering, procurement, civil and installation works and commissioning carried out in relation to the plant.

Cryostar SAS, a further subsidiary of the Linde Group, will supply the ORC technology and the key component – the expansion turbine. It is envisaged that the Gases Division of the Linde Group will manage the geothermal plant. With this combination of equipment manufacturing, engineering, purchasing & construction and plant management, the Linde Group is supplying a portfolio of services from a single source – something which their competition simply cannot match on the same terms. The civil works are set to start in summer 2012, with commissioning of the plant scheduled to take place in 2013.”

Source: Company release via Esprit Associates