Potsdam Goes Deep: How an All-Electric Drilling Rig Is Turning the City’s Heating Completely Fossil-Free
Revolutionizing Urban Heating: UGS GmbH's Pioneering Geothermal Project in Potsdam
In the heart of Germany’s energy transition, a quiet but powerful revolution is taking place in Potsdam. UGS GmbH, a German subsidiary of the French energy storage specialist Geostock, has begun a landmark geothermal project that could redefine how entire cities stay warm in winter ,without burning a single drop of oil or cubic meter of gas.
The project, awarded by the local utility Energie und Wasser Potsdam GmbH (EWP), focuses on the former site of the HKW Süd combined heat and power plant in southern Potsdam. The goal is ambitious: replace the aging gas-fired plant with deep geothermal energy and other renewables, eventually supplying tens of thousands of households with completely CO₂-free district heating.
At the center of this transformation stands a piece of machinery that looks like something from the future: UGS’s fully modernized, all-electric drilling rig “Rig 110”. After six months of intensive upgrades, Rig 110 has become the first fully electric deep-drilling rig deployed for geothermal exploration in the region. Powered entirely by electricity instead of diesel, it produces virtually no local emissions and dramatically reduces noise, a crucial advantage when drilling in the middle of a residential city.
Dr. Hagen Feldrappe, head of geothermal energy at UGS GmbH, calls it a game-changer:
“Geothermal energy is one of the key technologies of the energy transition. With our modernized, all-electric Rig 110, we now have a tool that not only works more efficiently but also operates completely fossil-free. We are proud that EWP has entrusted us with this flagship project.”
The rig will be on site for several months, drilling exploratory and later production wells to tap into hot water reservoirs several kilometers beneath Potsdam. The geology of the North German Basin is well-suited for medium-depth geothermal projects, with water temperatures that can easily reach 100–130 °C ,more than enough for large-scale district heating networks.
Potsdam is not starting from scratch. The city has already brought its first small geothermal heating plant online in 2025, delivering 4 MW of renewable heat,enough for almost 7,000 households. The new project at HKW Süd is the next, much larger step. When fully developed, the site is expected to feed dozens of megawatts of clean heat into the city’s pipes, gradually phasing out the old gas plant entirely.
What makes this project particularly exciting is the combination of cutting-edge technology and pragmatic urban planning. While many cities dream of “green heating,” Potsdam is actually building it , one electric rig, one deep well, one neighborhood at a time.
The benefits go far beyond the environment. Geothermal plants have extremely low operating costs once built, because the Earth delivers its heat for free, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. That stability translates into predictable, affordable heating bills for residents and shields the city from volatile fossil-fuel prices. Jobs are being created in drilling, engineering, geology, and plant operations, many of them long-term and highly skilled.
Of course, challenges remain. Upfront costs for deep geothermal are high, and every borehole carries some geological risk. But Potsdam has done its homework: years of seismic surveys, test wells, and cooperation with the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) have de-risked the project significantly. The European Investment Bank’s €375 million loan package for Potsdam secured in 2025 further demonstrates institutional confidence in the plan.
Looking ahead, Potsdam’s geothermal ambitions don’t stop at HKW Süd. City planners envision a network of several geothermal plants across the region, potentially combined with large-scale heat pumps, solar thermal, and waste-heat recovery. Together, these sources like these could make Potsdam one of the first major German cities to achieve a virtually decarbonized heating sector long before 2045.
Projects like this one show what the energy transition can look like when ambition meets engineering excellence. While wind turbines and solar panels grab most of the headlines, it is often the heat beneath our feet that will do the heaviest lifting in decarbonizing cities. Potsdam, with its quiet streets, baroque palaces, and now its silent, all-electric drilling rig humming in the background, is proving that a fossil-free future doesn’t have to be loud or disruptive , it can be as steady and reliable as the Earth itself.
As the rig tower rises against the Brandenburg sky, it sends a clear message: the heat of tomorrow is already here. We just have to drill for it.
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