Drilling imminent for deep geothermal project in Vienna, Austria
The well site is being prepared for the first deep geothermal project in Vienna, Austria by OMV and Wien Energie, which is to start drilling by winter.
The Austrian integrated oil, gas, and petrochemical company OMV Group has announced that drilling for the first deep geothermal plant in Vienna, Austria will start by the winter of 2024/2025. The project will be part of the deeep joint venture established in 2023 with Wien Energie.
According to the announcement, OMV and Wien Energie have secured the necessary approval for the project and work has now started on preparing the well site in Aspern (Vienna-Donaustadt). The project aims to provide sustainable heating using deep geothermal resources for up to 20,000 households in Vienna, with potential of scaling up to 200,000 households.
The project has a planned investment volume of around EUR 90 million and has received funding from the Ministry of Climate Action.
The construction of the well site there will take around three months. During this time, the deeep project team will build the access roads to the future plant site, prepare the necessary infrastructure, and set up construction containers. Finally, the drilling rig for the deep drilling will be set up. An information center for residents and interested parties will also be set up at the well site.
The wells will be drilled to target depths of of over 3,000 meters to use the hot formation water for heat generation. OMV is responsible for the subsurface section of the deeep project.
In the summer of 2025, so-called production tests will be carried out after drilling. During these tests, the project team will examine the encountered formation water in terms of temperature, chemical composition and production volume. Based on the findings from these investigations, the surface facilities will be constructed from 2026. Wien Energie is primarily responsible for this part of the plant in the deeep joint venture.
The geothermal plant in Aspern is scheduled to commence operations in 2028.
“OMV is committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest. Geothermal energy plays an important role in our strategy. With this innovative technology, we are reducing CO2 emissions and countering climate change. We are drawing on our decades of experience in the exploration and drilling business. With the construction of the well site, we are now one step closer to the sustainable production of district heating in Vienna,” said Alfred Stern, Chairman of the Executive Board of OMV Aktiengesellschaft.
“After years of research and planning, we are now starting to implement. Together with our partner OMV, we founded the joint venture deeep last year to combine our strengths. We want to use deep geothermal energy to drive forward the heating revolution in Vienna and to make district heating carbon-neutral by 2040. The construction of Vienna’s first plant using deep geothermal energy brings us a big step closer to achieving this goal,” explains Michael Strebl, CEO of Wien Energie.
“Vienna offers ideal conditions for the use of deep geothermal energy,” says Peter Weinelt, CEO of Wiener Stadtwerke. “We have a large natural hot water reservoir deep under the city and a well-developed district heating network to distribute the energy to customers. This not only helps the climate, but the technology also contributes to security of supply and price stability, making Vienna a little more independent of gas imports.”
Source: OMV
