Parchim, Germany aspires for geothermal supply to district heating network

The city of Parchim in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany is set to conduct seismic measurements to characterize a potential geothermal resource that the residents want to utilize for district heating. If all goes to the city’s plan, hot water from the subsurface will provide clean and reliable heating by 2028.

The city expects to tap into thermal fluids at temperature of 95-100 °C at depths of 2000 to 2300 meters, as indicated by technical director Marcel Götting. Seismic investigations using two vibro trucks will help reduce the risk in geothermal drilling, as experts want to identify subsurface formations that are not considered good host formations for geothermal resources.

Götting further said that about a third of all the households in Parchim is also connected to the district heating network. The city aims to expand this network while also transitioning away from the depends on fossil fuels.

There had previously been efforts to explore for geothermal energy in Parchim from back in 2012. However, the project was deemed not economical at the time. With the help of federal funding, the current efforts in Parchim have become more economically viable.

The State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern had been recently recognized as the “Deep Geothermal Champion” by the German Geothermal Association (Bundesverband Geothermie / BVG) for adding 7 MWth of geothermal capacity in the last year.

Source: Zeit Online