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Swiss Axpo enters German project at Taufkirchen and with further plans

Swiss Axpo enters German project at Taufkirchen and with further plans Hekla Energy drilling rig at Mauerstetten, Germany - not directly related to story (source: Iceland Drilling)
Alexander Richter 20 Dec 2010

Swiss energy company Axpo enters the geothermal energy market with a participation in a geothermal project in Taufkirchen Germany and big plans for the operation of own geothermal power plants in Switzerland.

In a release last week by Swiss energy firm Axpo, the company announces an own center of competence and the participation in an advanced geothermal power project in Taufkirchen, Germany.

With first experiences collected in the geothermal project in Basel/ Switzerland, the company made its first steps into geothermal activities. “Geothermal Energy has a strong technical potential in Switzerland with a long term energy generation of up to 17 TWh”, so CEO Heinz Karrer of Axpo Holding AG.

The company has installed a project team under the leadership of Jörg Uhde, a specialist with long term experience in deep drilling and geothermal energy. The team started to install a center of competence at the company’s site at Glattbrugg. In the long term, Axpo plans to operate own geothermal power plants at suitable locations in Switzerland.

The first project the company is getting involved in is a participation at a promising and drill ready project in Taufkirchen in Bavaria/ Germany. This allows the company to enter the geothermal energy market much earlier and hopes to build up know-how and expertise that would allow developing of own projects in Switzerland.

Drilling is expected to start in the beginning of 2011. It is a turn-key project by Exorka GmbH, which belongs to the Daldrup-Group, a listed geothermal drilling company in Germany. The operation of this heat and power combined power plant is expected to start in 2013.

Axpo is the leading power generator based on renewable energy in Switzerland. In its strategy, geothermal energy plays a key role, as “it is sustainable, low in CO2 emissions, a baseload capacity and can contribute to secure and reliable power supply”, so CEO Heinz Karrer.

Source: Axpo (in German)