Unterhaching is speeding up the expansion of geothermal energy

Created: 05/20/2022, 05:30

By: Charlotte Borst

Geothermie Unterhaching GmbH wants to meet the demand.

© dpa

Unterhaching – The expansion of geothermal energy is being accelerated.

District heating routes are to be laid throughout Unterhaching by 2027.

The Unterhaching municipal council unanimously passed an important decision on Wednesday: "All Unterhaching residents will have the opportunity to use district heating from their own source by 2028 at the latest," said Mayor Wolfgang Panzer (SPD) at a press conference called at short notice on Thursday: "Our local source is a privilege that gives us independence.”

Citizen demand is there

To this end, the district heating network, which currently measures 55 kilometers, is to be expanded by a further 17 kilometers in the four years from 2024 to 2027.

"It's four times faster than before," said Wolfgang Geisinger, Managing Director of Geothermie Unterhaching GmbH & Co KG.

Other municipalities are also currently focusing on expanding their geothermal power grids.

However, Unterhaching shows special ambitions: "We are the first in the district to set a time goal," says Geisinger.

In order to make the investment possible, Geothermie Unterhaching GmbH & Co KG takes out a loan of around 30 million euros.

The municipality assumes a municipal guarantee for this.

Because she also set herself a clear goal a year ago, as Panzer emphasizes: "We want to be climate-neutral by 2030." Many German municipalities have set themselves climate goals, "but we also have a strategy for how we want to achieve decarbonization." However, Panzer emphasized: "No one has to be connected, but anyone can."

The most difficult thing might be to get companies and material

The interest is great.

Geisinger reports: "In the last two months alone, demand was as high as it usually is in a year." In Isartalstrasse, for example, 90 percent of the residents currently want to be connected.

And if you don't join immediately, you can follow suit within ten years.

The general economic conditions are also attractive: the expansion is not only being financed by borrowed capital, but above all by subsidies.

Unterhaching expects grants of 40 million because the federal government is launching two funding programs.

Now it's a matter of submitting an application quickly, says Geisinger: "Finally, geothermal energy is being promoted in the same way as gas has been."

Expansion areas and timetable set

The most difficult thing about the master plan is probably getting companies and material.

Therefore, one wants to offer citizens, construction companies and craftsmen as much planning security as possible: The expansion will begin in 2024 in Unterhaching-Nord, then district heating lines will be laid in Unterhaching-West in 2025, followed by Unterhaching-Ost (2026) and finally Unterhaching-Süd (2027).

At the same time, the existing network can be connected at any time.

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The connection through the basement is new

Geothermie Unterhaching offers a novelty for terraced house communities: "Here we want to run the pipes through the basement, which saves a third of the costs because the heating engineer does it." The basement connection costs around 3500 euros, a new connection under the street in comparison 7,500 euros, minus the 1,000 euros in funding from the municipality.

If you want, you can have everything coordinated by Geothermie Unterhaching from a single source, from the craftsman to the disposal of the old heating system and the submission of funding applications.

That, too, could be a blueprint for other geothermal companies.