Vulcan resumes geothermal district heating supply in Landau, Germany
Vulcan Energy has announced the resumption of heating supply from the Landau geothermal heating plant in Germany to local utility EnergieSüdwest.
Vulcan Energy has officially resumed district heating supply from the Landau geothermal heating plant to EnergieSüdwest (ESW), the utility company of the city of Landau (Landau in der Pfalz) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Initially, Vulcan will supply a maximum heat output of 2 megawatts (MW), depending on demand. This is equivalent to about 320 households.
Landau’s mayor Dr. Dominik Geißler, mayor Lukas Hartmann, ESW board member Dr. Thomas Waßmuth, and Dr. Horst Kreuter, founder and general representative of Vulcan Energie Ressourcen GmbH, gave the official launch at an on-site meeting at the heating plant.
The geothermal energy will be fed directly into the neighboring ESW heating plant, from where ESW will distribute it to the Landau South district heating network. The heat output from the geothermal source will be gradually expanded with the goal of making the Landau South district heating network almost entirely climate-neutral by the 2026-2027 heating season. Until now, the Landau South district heating network has been supplied mainly by gas-fired boilers and two combined heat and power plant operated by ESW.
There are also plans to integrate the inner-city district heating network in the future.
“It’s fantastic that, thanks to the takeover and renovation of the geothermal power plant by Vulcan Energy, district heating from climate-friendly geothermal energy can finally be supplied to Landau households again. With the start of heat supply, we are taking an important step towards climate-neutral heat supply in Landau,” said Dr. Dominik Geißler, Mayor of Landau.
“Municipal heat planning is showing us the way forward – and deep geothermal energy is a key component. The fact that we can now supply the first households in the south of Landau with geothermal heat is a strong signal for our energy future.”
“The resumption of geothermal heat supply is also a significant milestone for EnergieSüdwest AG. We can now use our existing networks in Landau-Süd, as well as in the area of ??the former slaughterhouse, as originally planned, to supply our customers with geothermal district heating. In the medium term, we will be able to supply our existing networks 100 percent with this energy based on the power plant on Eutzinger Straße and even expand it,” added Dr. Thomas Waßmuth, CEO of EnergieSüdwest AG.
The complicated history of geothermal in Landau
The Landau geothermal power plant started operations in 2007 and was the first geothermal power plant in Rhineland-Palatinate. At the time, the power plant was owned by Pfalzwerke and Landau-based energy supplier Energie Sudwest.
Problems in the Landau geothermal power plant manifested early on. Earthquakes were reported in the region, resulting in damage to houses. Eventually, the power plant had to throttle its output and no longer operated economically. By 2013, the Daldrup company took over the Landau power plant.
By 2014, seismicity was also felt in the grounds of the power plant and damaged train tracks. The State Office for Geology and Mining then decided that the power plant had to be shut down temporarily as a precaution. Subsequent studies revealed that geothermal fluids from one of the two wells contaminated the groundwater in the area.
The Daldrup company repaired the borehole damage before the State Office gave the go-ahead for final recommissioning. In 2019, there was another change in ownership as Daldrup company sold both the Landau and Taufkirchen power plants to IKAV Invest S.ar.l., Luxembourg.
Plans for further growth and consolidation with lithium business
Vulcan has plans to further expand the geothermal infrastructure in the Landau region with five additional drilling sites and a total of up to 24 new wells planned to be drilled. Heat from these wells will then be fed into the district heating network. These plans are essential to the HEAT4LANDAU project, which is supported by a funding commitment of up to EUR 100 million from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection.
In addition to the heat transfer from the Landau geothermal heating plant to ESW, the thermal water is now also being piped to the neighboring lithium extraction optimization plant (LEOP), where Vulcan extracts sustainable lithium for battery production. In this way, the company combines sustainable energy generation with the creation of regional added value.
“With the resumption of geothermal heat supply to ESW, Vulcan is setting another milestone for a sustainable heat supply for Landau. Vulcan’s integrated project demonstrates how the efficient use of renewable resources both strengthens the local heat supply and supports the European battery industry through the extraction of green lithium,” said Dr. Horst Kreuter, founder and general representative of Vulcan Energie Ressourcen GmbH.
Source: Stadt Landau and SWR
