Geothermal exploration in Ludwigshafen, Germany receives city council vote

Aerial view of Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany (source: Dominik Lott (Dolo280), CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons)

Carlo Cariaga 14 Jan 2025

After a few hours of discussion, the city council of Ludwigshafen in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany voted unanimously in favor of exploration activities related to a geothermal heat and lithium extraction project. This is a project that will be implemented by Vulcan Energy Resources (Vulcan) in partnership with chemical manufacturer BASF based on an agreement signed in late 2024.

Mayor Jutta Steinruck expressed relief for the favorable vote, but also emphasized that information on the project must be provided to the public. “The questions from citizens show that it is something new, something unknown. We have to react to it.”

The two partners plan to jointly develop a geothermal heat project to supply BASF’s Verbund site, as well as to evaluate the feasibility of constructing a lithium extraction plant within the BASF site to produce lithium from geothermal brine. As a preparatory step, a seismic survey will be done to identify the possible reservoir for the geothermal resource. Vulcan estimates that the comprehensive investigations will cost a total of EUR 10-15 million.

Some members of the city council criticized the short-term scheduling of the exploration activities, stating that there had been no time beforehand for the group to discuss the topic of geothermal energy. However, the decision had to be made as seismic measurements would no longer be possible during the birds’ breeding season in spring.

According to the initial project timeline published by the project partners, the upcoming activities will involve a 2D seismic survey. This can then be followed up by 3D seismic surveys in the 2025/2026 winter season to identify well site locations.

Source: SWR.de

Carlo Cariaga

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