New geothermal heat supply contract signed for city of Mannheim, Germany

Mannheim, BW/ Germany (source: flickr/ Metro Centric, creative common)

In a release shared yesterday, Australia/ Germany listed Vulcan Energy Resources announces the signing of a binding purchase agreement with  MVV Energie AG (MVV) for the delivery of 240 GWh per year of renewable heat.

The long-term 20- year contract stipulates heat delivery starting in 2025 with the supply of a minimum of 240,000MWh per year to a maximum of 350,000MWh per year to households in Mannheim, outside of Frankfurt, Germany.

MVV energy is the largest municipal energy supplier in Germany, with annual revenues of EUR 4.1 billion and more than 6,500 staff members. The energy provider is 50.1% owned by the City of Mannheim.

Vulcan Energy Resources plans to deliver the heat from planned geothermal wells in the surrounding of the city of Mannheim through heat supply network. The company has an exploration license in Mannheim as part of his German development activities.

Vulcan’s Managing Director, Dr Francis Wedin commented: “Vulcan is committed to playing a leading role in Germany’s “Wärmewende”, or heat transition as the country looks to reduce its reliance on Russian energy. This agreement represents a real and immediate step taken by a German energy utility to achieve energy security whilst not compromising on climate goals. “We believe that Geothermal renewable energy on a mass scale, combined with lithium extraction from the same deep geothermal source, can and will play an important part in achieving Europe and Germany’s energy security and independence. We are proud to partner with MVV, a leader in German energy supply, dedicated to making a lasting and sustainable contribution to the local community through the provision of renewable energy and heat. Our binding offtake agreement for regional geothermal energy positions MVV to deliver secure, sustainable, economical and environmentally friendly heating for its industrial, commercial and private household customers. Vulcan intends to build several further distributed geothermal renewable energy plants across the Upper Rhine Valley region and we are in discussions with other regional communities regarding additional heat off-take agreements.”

Dr. Hansjörg Roll, Member of the Executive Board for Technology at MVV Energie AG said, “Our goal is to be one of the first energy companies in Germany to be climate positive. From 2040 onwards, our motto will be “Beyond Carbon Zero”. In Mannheim and the region, we will therefore convert our district heating supply to 100 % green energy sources by 2030 at the latest. This long-term agreement with Vulcan secures us substantial volumes of heat from renewable sources – for the good of our climate and for greater security of supply.”

Source: Company release