Mourning the loss of Dr. Achim Schubert, geothermal pioneer and friend

Dr. Achim Schubert, founder and managing director of ERDWERK, Munich/ Germany

In a note shared by the team of geothermal service firm Erdwerk in Munich, Germany, the company announced that its founder and managing director, Dr. Achim Schubert has passed away.

“Achim Schubert was one of the pioneers of geothermal energy in Germany and has unswervingly campaigned for an energy transition and achieved great success with his incomparable enthusiasm and commitment,” as the Erdwerk team shared in his note.

With Stadtwerke Muenchen, the city utility of Munich in Germany, he and his team implemented the first geothermal project in Munich, the geothermal plant in Munich Riem. Numerous other projects in the greater Munich area then followed, including in the geothermal plants at Pullach, Unterföhring, Ismaning and most recently the projects in Munich, Freiham and Schäftlarnstrasse.

With Erdwerk, Achim Schubert also worked beyond the Bavarian Molasse Basin, including in the Upper Rhine Graben, Switzerland, Belgium and overseas. “The entire Erdwerk team feels obliged to Dr. Schubert’s vision and will continue to run the company with all their might and unbroken commitment,” the company continues.

Achim’s death is a shock to me. Connecting all the way back to my earlier days in the geothermal sector, I enjoyed discussions on the challenges of entrepreneurial life, combining life and work and the incredible passion for geothermal energy we shared. From all the discussions over the years, those more personal ones in Toronto/ Canada, Melbourne/ Australia, and last in The Hague last year stick out, I remember Achim as a great ally, friend and fellow entrepreneur in the industry.

As his team describes,  “We will miss his warmth, his humor and above all his eternal optimism. The geothermal community has lost an important and visionary pioneer, the company ERDWERK its mentor and friend.”, I so heartily agree.

My thoughts are with his family, colleagues and friends in the industry in these surely tough times.

Achim, you will be dearly missed.

Here the notice from our partner site in Germany, TiefeGeothermie.