Intelligent marketing of power and heat key to success in Germany
Praxisforum Geothermie Bayern, Germany (source: 84 GHz/ Michael Wladarsch)
Alexander Richter
16 Oct 2013
Continued uncertainty on feed-in-tariffs in Germany, but possibility of direct sales see as profitable option and local value creation that could also gain more local support.
Recently held Praxisforum Geothermie Bayern, a workshop for the geothermal industry in German state Bavaria, highlighted current issues faced by geothermal developers in Germany.
With an unclear status on the renewable energy law in Germany, which details feed-in-tariffs for renewables including geothermal, investments of several hundreds of EUR have been postponed until a new federal government has been formed in Germany.
So while in the short term nothing will change for geothermal in the medium term, the sector will have to look at direct marketing of power produced from geothermal plants. There were though voices at the event that said that this might in itself provide an opportunity as selling power locally might be profitable and improve levels of acceptance with the local population as value is created on site and will remain in the municipalities of the plants.
The workshop on ” pumps in geothermal energy .”, saw strong interest.
About 50 participants discussed with representatives of Flowserve , Bestec , Canadian Advanced and KSB about the specifications of the respective pumps and the challenges of large installation depths and flow rates . Manufacturers presented very different approaches to the problem.
According to the manufacturers installation for depths of up to 760 meters are possible.
The event was organized by German Agency Enerchange for the first time this year with the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs as patron of the event and local municipalities as supporters.
Details about the event can be found here: www.praxisforum-geothermal-bayern.de (in German)
