Fifth well successfully drilled for Munich’s geothermal district heating network

Alexander Richter 24 Sep 2019

Local utility Stadtwerke München (SWM) has successfully drilled the fifth of six wells for its HKW South heating plant. Planned pumping tests on 25 September 2019, will show if flow-rates and temperature of the thermal water resources will meet expectations.  Due to the chemical composition of the water, there could be some odor nuisance, but if so only for a short time. This is completely harmless, as reported by SWM.

The results of the performance tests on the first four wells were already very promising: the temperature is clear higher than expected, the flow rates are on target. Based on this data, SWM is  confident that the actual capacity of the plant will exceed the planned 50 MW. They will then be able to serve more than 80,000 Munich residents and provide Munich with clean heating.

By mid-2020, work on all six wells will be completed. In parallel, the heating plant which will host all the necessary equipment is being built. After final long-term pumping attempts should the plant then go in the heating season 2020/21 to the grid.

The SWM are one of the pioneers of deep geothermal energy, currently operating five geothermal plants in Munich and the region. As part of its expansion initiative for renewable energies, SWM is building renewable energies holistically off, in the electricity as well as in the heating area. The goal is for Munich to become the first city in Germany that with 100% CO2-neutral district heating by 2040. The The main contribution will be made by geothermal energy.

Source: Company release (pdf)