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Münster council unanimously approves the use of geothermal energy

Münster council unanimously approves the use of geothermal energy Munster, Germany (source: Michael Tepe / flickr, Creative Commons)
Carlo Cariaga 28 Oct 2022

The city council of Munster in North Rhine Westphalia, Germany voted unanimously in favor of making geothermal energy a mainstay in the city's heat supply.

The council of the city of Münster in North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW), Germany has voted unanimously in favor of committing to geothermal energy in a discussion that lasted only 18 minutes. More specifically, the members of the council agreed that geothermal energy should become a mainstay in the city’s heat supply.

The Geological Service of North Rhine-Westphalia had previously attested that Münster and the Münsterland region was a good site for the use of geothermal energy. A hot aquifer can be tapped in the region by drilling to depths between 1000 to 6000 meters.

The municipal utility of Münster, Stadtwerke Münster, was one of the five municipal utility companies in NRW to sign the “Alliance for Geothermal Energy” with Fraunhofer IEG. More recently, the Geological Service of North Rhine-Westphalia announced the completion of a seismic survey that aims to characterize the subsurface in the NRW region and more accurately locate its geothermal resources.

Although there was no dissenting opinion on the use of geothermal energy in Münster, CDU faction leader Stefan cautioned that the current euphoria will not last. He emphasized that political steadfastness will be needed when first boreholes will be drilled as this is when the “opponents will be loud.” SPD council Ludger Steinmann supported this statement by saying that staying power will be needed because the project is currently only in its exploration phase.

Volt Councilor Helene Goldbeck was pleased that Münster could become a pilot region for geothermal energy. The long-term goal is for the city to have numerous local and district geothermal heating networks within the the coming decade.

Source: Westphalian News