Hoping for an efficient district heating network: Enex Managing Director Robert Straubinger (left) and Eavor Managing Director Andreas Gahr (from left). © Peter Herrmann
Geretsried - Recently, Enex Managing Director Robert Straubinger and Eavor Managing Director Andreas Gahr answered questions about the geothermal project in Gelting.
After two failed wells in 2013 and 2017, there is now a new attempt with a different approach.
With the "closed loops technology" developed by the Canadian company Eavor, four heat exchangers, each with twelve side arms, are to be drilled at a depth of almost five kilometers, which will connect to each other after seven and a half kilometers. "Each arm has to meet on the size of an A4 sheet, that's the difficulty," explained Enex Managing Director Robert Straubinger. According to his estimates, "closed-loops technology" can be used in 98 percent of all areas in Germany.
After the groundbreaking ceremony for two drilling sites at Gut Breitenbach took place in October 2022, intensive construction work is now beginning. Eavor Managing Director Andreas Gahr expects a power plant to be commissioned after the completion of the two drilling sites in 2024. He has already reached agreements with the Geretsrieder Stadtwerke on the priority development of a district heating network. Ideally, several cities and municipalities in the region could even be supplied with heat or electricity.
70,000 euros per day: Costs for a day of drilling in Gelting
Straubinger assumes an average production value of around 15 megawatts per day, with a maximum output of 65 megawatts. The investment costs are enormous. When asked by a visitor, Straubinger revealed that the power plant alone costs 30 million euros to generate electricity. He expects the pipeline to cost 1 million euros per kilometre. In total, the Canadian company Eavor is investing around 350 million euros. "Each day of drilling costs around 70,000 euros," Gahr calculated.
In autumn 2024, the first "heat cassette" is to be drilled and the first of a total of four loops will run. Around 40 visitors accepted the invitation to the information event of the Free Voters, among them the mayor of Eurasi, Moritz Sappl, as well as city and municipal councillors from Geretsried, Münsing and Wolfratshausen.
