Geothermal Isn't Expensive: The Reservoir Always Has the Final Say Somewhere beneath a volcanic ridge, a drill bit is turning through rock that has not moved in two million years. It costs money every second it turns. And nobody on the surface — not the engineer, not the financier, not the minister who announced the megawatts — knows yet whether that well will produce steam or silence. That single moment explains almost everything people get wrong about geothermal energy. Geothermal is routinely described as expensive, slow, capital-hungry and haunted by drilling risk. Investors are reminded that tens of millions can disappear underground before a single megawatt reaches a grid. All of that is true. But it is not the whole truth. The uncomfortable question the industry keeps avoiding is this: is geothermal expensive, or is the way we develop geothermal making it expensive? Those are two completely different problems. One is geology. The other is us. Why Geothermal Refuses to Be...
The geothermal project of Stadtwerke Neuruppin is expected to receive about 40% of its funding from the German Federal Government. This will help Neuruppin become largely independent of fossil fuels. The project will involve drilling to a depth of 1,700-1,800 meters, but this requires approval from the mining authority and the construction permit from the district.
At the New Year's reception of the Fontane city six weeks ago, Thoralf Uebach, managing director of Stadtwerke Neuruppin GmbH (SWN), reported on the ambitious geothermal project for which funding had already been requested. Now, the first step has been taken: in the presence of Mayor Nico Ruhle and Building Commissioner Jan Juraschek, the management of SWN received a grant of over €10 million from the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control. This amount represents about 40% of the total budget of €25.5 million for the geothermal project, and comes from the federal funding program "Efficient Heating Networks."
Thoralf Uebach said, "This means that we can largely become independent of fossil fuels." He also noted that SWN is one of the first companies to receive funding for such a project. According to Artur Dzasokhov, technical director of SWN, the idea of geothermal energy is not new, as the company has been working on this since 1987/88. However, previous projects of this kind were not economically viable due to the gas price. Since the events in Ukraine a year ago, many have started to think differently.
The company is confident that the project will be successful, as it knows what to expect underground. However, the company still needs to obtain approval from the mining authority and construction permit from the district. It will also need to demolish a building, affectionately called the "baracke", at the SWN site so that drilling can take place. During the drilling process, sound barriers and a drilling tower will be installed, and drilling is expected to take about six months.
Mayor Nico Ruhle believes that this project is an important step for the energy supply of the Fontane city and notes that despite the high cost, it will ultimately provide price stability for SWN customers. Wiebke Papenbrock, a member of the German parliament who supported the funding of the project, believes that it will be a flagship project that will have an impact beyond Neuruppin. Building Commissioner Jan Juraschek thinks that the project is an important step towards a more sustainable urban development. The heating supply is expected to begin in 2027.
Source:(Bundersverband Geothermie)
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