German cities Puchheim and Germering to collaborate on geothermal heating
Schloss_Puchheim in Puchheim, Germany (source: C.Stadler/Bwag, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Carlo Cariaga
13 Feb 2025
The neighboring cities of Puchheim and Germering in Bavaria, Germany have announced plans to establish a company for joint development of geothermal heating.
The neighboring cities of Puchheim and Germering in Bavaria, Germany, as well as the Munich municipal utilities, are looking to establish a joint company to develop a geothermal heating project.
The planned geothermal project will involve the drilling of eight boreholes, both for production and reinjections. The planners are assuming a capacity of 52 MWth from the future facility.
These big ambitions also come with significant investment requirements, estimated at EUR 260 million. Funding of around EUR 91 million for the project is expected. Germering is planning to take a 25% stake in the company, Puchheim at 15%, and the rest by other shareholders.
Another attempt after previous failures
The situation of the two cities is interesting, in that both of them have attempted geothermal development in the past but failed due to different reasons. A feasibility study for geothermal had been done with Germering. Funding application was done to advance the work, but the project failed to push through due to high costs. In Puchheim, an early-stage initiative for geothermal heating was struck down by a citizens’ vote in 2018 due to fears of property damage from seismic activity.
With the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine and a stronger drive for energy independence, Puchheim Mayor is hoping that the citizens will now realize the potential of geothermal. Technology had also greatly advanced since then. As the administration expressed in a statement to the city council, none of the geothermal projects in the wider Munich area have caused any damage from seismicity.
Source: Merkur.de
