New partnership formed for geothermal heating in Burgwedel, Germany

Würmsee in Burgwedel, Lower Saxony, Germany (source: losch, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

The City of Burgwedel in Lower Saxony, Germany has created a partnership with Norddeutsche.Erdwärme.gewinnungsgesellschaft GmbH (NDEWG) and regional utility enercity to jointly explore and develop geothermal heating in Burgwedel, along with the development of a local heating network in the Großburgwedel district. When completed, this will become the first municipality in the State of Lower Saxony to have local heating from deep geothermal energy.

The project is expected to start supplying geothermal heat to around 1800 customers by the end of 2027.

Each party plays a crucial role in the partnership. NDEWG holds the exploration permit for deep geothermal energy in the region, enercity will be the operator of the future heating network, and the City of Burgwedel is the owner of the area.

enercity had recently signed a heat supply contract with innovative geothermal company Eavor Technologies for the City of Hanover, also in Lower Saxony.

“Deep geothermal energy is an important building block in the city of Burgwedel’s concept for achieving the legally required climate neutrality that we strive for as quickly as possible. We are therefore very pleased that NDEWG and enercity will leverage this potential and implement it as part of a climate-neutral heat supply,” said Burgwedel Mayor Ortrud Wendt.

Reducing project risks

enercity has submitted an application to the federal funding for efficient heating networks (BEW) to aid in further analyzing the geothermal potential in Burgwedel and start a feasibility study. As part of this initiative, a detailed 3D seismic survey has been proposed to be done by the end of this year. This will allow the NDEWG to more accurately determine where and in which subsurface layers deep geothermal resources can be found.

“Based on the results of the 3D seismics, we know exactly where we can drill for deep geothermal energy extraction. The seismic method is therefore essential in order to have the lowest possible risk during the exploration,” said Albrecht Möhring, Managing Director of NDEWG.

 “As soon as there are exact dates for 3D seismics, we will inform interested parties and residents and present the process in detail.”

Source: enercity