Drilling starts on new geothermal power project in Gross-Gerau, Germany
Drill pad of Gross-Gerau project, Hesse/ Germany (source : Erdwaerme Gross Gerau)
Alexander Richter
23 Mar 2016
The geothermal project at Trebur, Gross-Gerau in Hesse, Germany has started drilling. With an expected start of operation the planned plant would provide electricity and heating to the local community.
As reported by German news last week, drilling has started for the first geothermal power plant in the state of Hesse in Germany at Trebur.
“After completion of the first hole in about three months, we can estimate how much energy lies under our feet,” said the CEO of Overland plant Gross-Gerau (ÜWG), Detlev Höhne. The project has been in planning, preparation and public stakeholder engagement until this point. The overall investment until the plant will start operating is estimated at EUR 50 million ($56 million)
The 55m high drilling rig has been set up and drilling of the first well is expected momentarily. The drilling target lies at 4,000 m depth and is expected to be completed by this summer. If everything goes according to plan, the power plant could start operation in 2017.
The northern part of the Upper Rhine Graben, in which the Gross-Gerau district lies, is particularly suitable for geothermal development and utilisation. The calculated average thermal water temperature at a depth of 3,500-4,000 meters is about 170 degrees Celsius, well above the national average and therefore suitable for power generation and heat production.
It is expected that the geothermal power plant will supply 7,200 households with electricity, and about 400 households with heat. The plant could annually produce around 25 GW hours of green electricity and could save about 750,000 litres of oil for heating per year.
Source: Frankfurter Neue Presse
