News

Geothermal exploration permit in Nordhorn, Germany granted to NDEWG

Geothermal exploration permit in Nordhorn, Germany granted to NDEWG Stiftung Kloster Frenswegen in Nordhorn, Germany (source: Hans Splinter / flickr, Creative Commons)
Carlo Cariaga 30 Jan 2023

The LBEG has granted an exploration permit for Nordhorn, the latest in a quickly growing list of issued geothermal exploration permits in Lower Saxony, Germany.

The State Office for Mining, Energy, and Geology (LBEG) of Lower Saxony, Germany has granted the geothermal exploration permit for the Nordhorn permit field to the North Germany Geothermal Energy Company (NDEWG). The permit is effective as of February 1, 2023 and will be initially limited to five years.

The Nordhorn permit field in Lower Saxony, Germany (source: LBEG)

The application for the permit was submitted by NDEWG at the end of October 2022. Before granting the permit, the LBEG gave the affected towns of Nordhorn and Neuenhaus, the joint municipality of Neuenhaus and the district of Graftschaft Bentheim the opportunity to comment.

The LBEG clarifies that the permit only gives the NDEWG the basic right to carry out the exploration. Actual exploration activities and operating plans will still need to be approved under the mining law, which may require a separate participation procedure.

The newly granted Nordhorn permit is the most recent addition to a growing list of permits for geothermal exploration that have been granted in Lower Saxony. Before the end of 2022, the LBEG had also granted geothermal prospecting permits for the city of Soltau and the district town of Uelzen. The LBEG has now issued a dozen geothermal exploration permits in Lower Saxony.

In addition to its capacity as a mining authority, the LBEG is also the Lower Saxony Geothermal Service (NGD), which provides technically neutral and economically independent advice on near-surface and deep geothermal energy and creates and maintains geoscientific foundations. The LBEG underlines the importance of geothermal energy as a regenerative energy source and regularly offers events for the general public and specialist audience.

Source: LBEG Niedersachsen