Stadtwerke München (SWM), one of the largest municipal companies in Germany, has announced that the construction for a new geothermal plant in Germany is now underway.
Already operating six geothermal plants in and around Munich, the new project will be built on the site of the Michaelibad in southeast Munich and is expected to be completed in 2033. It is being undertaken as part of SWM’s efforts to cover Munich’s district heading needs in a climate-neutral way by 2040 at the latest.
Projected to supply heat to around 75,000 Munich residents, the plant will have four extraction and four reinjection boreholes, an adjacent heating station and a large heat pump to further increase the heat yield.
So far, demolition work has been carried out on buildings where the heating station will be located and preparations have also been made for the integration of the future geothermal plant into the district heating network. Now, attention turns to construction, a milestone marked by a groundbreaking ceremony held at the site.
“Geothermal energy is a climate-neutral, inexhaustible and at the same time reliable source of energy that is available all year round,” commented Robert Habeck, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection. “It can also be used to cover a persistently high demand for heat. The Munich municipal utilities are a good example of how this technology can be successful in densely populated cities. The development of geothermal heat has the potential to cover around a quarter of Germany's required renewable heat demand by 2045. The aim is to increase the current geothermal energy feed into heating networks tenfold. The SWM is actively contributing to achieving this goal.”
Karin Thelen, SWM Managing Director of Regional Energy Transition, added, “In order to generate district heating in an even more climate-friendly way, we are consistently expanding the use of geothermal energy as part of our transformation plan. 20 years after our first geothermal plant at the Riem trade fair, we are building our seventh plant here at the Michaelibad.
“We are planning another on the site of the former Virginia depot in the north of Munich, and additional locations are currently being explored with the city administration. In total, we want to build ten geothermal projects with more than 50 new deep boreholes in and around Munich. In addition, we are making our existing plants more efficient through additional drilling. Large heat pumps directly at the location of the geothermal plant, as here at the Michaelibad, should also make the heat from the return flow usable for district heating. However, without federal funding for efficient heating networks, the feat of municipal heat transition cannot be managed. We are receiving funding for the plant at the Michaelibad, for which I would like to express my sincere thanks.”
