Geothermal energy to bring 100 new jobs to Kirchweidach

GEOenergie Kirchweidach GmbH signs contract with municipality – Executive Director Gubo: ‘The next important milestone, setting the stage for future local projects’ – After it comes online the geothermal power station will supply environmentally friendly heat energy to households and local businesses – Greenhouse construction at the planning stage: new jobs expected

KIRCHWEIDACH – The planned geothermal power station in Kirchweidach is expected to produce not only ecologically generated electricity but also environmentally friendly heat energy. The operator GEOenergie Kirchweidach GmbH and the municipality of Kirchweidach have signed a contract which will put the municipality’s heat generation on an ecological footing after the completion of the power station. ‘With this contract the municipality has secured for itself the heat produced by the electricity generation process after the power station goes online in 2013,’ pronounces Bernhard Gubo, executive director of GEOenergie Kirchweidach GmbH.

The planned power plant will produce up to 7.5 megawatts of electricity a year, while the heat extraction potential is some 13,000 megawatt hours a year. ‘After the necessary planning has been done, this heat will enable the municipality to operate a district heating system,’ Gubo continued. The extracted heat is expected to meet Kirchweidach’s entire heating requirements. After the plant goes online it will be able to supply every inhabitant of Kirchweidach with environmentally friendly heat irrespective of the climate and weather, with a plentiful supply also available for enterprises wishing to set up business here.

100 new jobs

‘The contract is the next milestone on the road to geothermal energy in Kirchweidach. It sets the stage for future projects in the locality, because the supply stability and price security delivered by the power plant are highly appealing, particularly for commercial users,’ explains Gubo. Several companies have signalled an interest in setting up business in the direct vicinity of the power station in order to tap into the waste heat from electricity generation, with thermal water at heats of up to 130ºC.

For instance, plans are afoot to construct greenhouses for tomato production on a 40-acre site. The investor in the greenhouse project is hoping to create up to 100 new jobs in Kirchweidach. ‘This business is dependent on constantly warm climatic conditions, and thanks to the heat extraction from the geothermal power station this will be possible all year round,’ notes Bernhard Gubo. FG.de executive director Florian Fritsch also expressed his satisfaction. ‘In Kirchweidach one small piece of the energy revolution is being realised. The decentralised power plant produces energy from the region for the region, thus playing an important part in making regenerative energy supply a reality while at the same time creating a lot of jobs.’

The actual drilling work for the project was successfully completed two weeks ago. However, the overall completion of the work has unfortunately been delayed because of damage to the above-ground drilling equipment, which is currently being repaired by the drilling company. Present plans are for the drilling equipment to be dismantled later this year and transported to the next drilling site in Traunreut.

It will not be possible to precisely determine the success of the latest borehole until completion of the repairs to the drilling equipment, hopefully before the holiday period. Signs are good, though, that there will be a positive outcome.