Deep geothermal energy in Kirchweidach
| Kirchweidach geothermal power plant | |||
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| Coordinates | 48 ° 5 '57 " N , 12 ° 38' 43" E | ||
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| Type | Geothermal power plant | ||
| Primary energy | Geothermal energy | ||
| owner | FG group KBG | ||
| operator | FG group | ||
| Project start | May 2011 / August 1, 2013 | ||
| Start of operations | December 21, 2013 | ||
| Website | geoenergie-kirchweidach.de | ||
The deep geothermal energy in Kirchweidach is a project to use geothermal energy to generate heat in the Upper Bavarian municipality of Kirchweidach . The system supplies 200 households and a greenhouse of a large agricultural enterprise with district heating from the interior of the earth. The Kirchweidach geothermal project was tackled by FG Geothermie GmbH from Regensburg with the support of the Kirchweidach community and Kirchweidacher Energie GmbH (KiwE), which was founded as an independent company. In May 2015, the greenhouse facility was inaugurated by the Bavarian energy minister Ilse Aigner .
background
geology
In Germany, the foothills of the Alps are considered to be one of the most suitable regions alongside the Rhine Rift and the “North German Basin”. There are several pilot projects in Bavaria, in particular Unterhaching and, since 2013, Kirchweidach.
From the results of the search for oil and gas deposits in the area around Kirchweidach in the 1950s and 1960s, it was assumed that there is hot thermal water at a depth of 3,000 to 4,000 m. This was confirmed by extensive seismic measurements in 2011. In the same year, the project was started to prove the suitability of the entire region for this technology.
Energy industry framework
The aim of the project is the use of geothermal energy as an inexhaustible and therefore sustainable source of energy. In Kirchweidach, heating oil , liquefied gas and wood will mainly be used for heating until 2014 using fossil fuels . By supplying heat by means of the base- load geothermal energy, a regional renewable energy source should be used to supply the community with heat in an environmentally friendly and climate-friendly manner.
history
| May 2011 | 1st borehole 3,800 m deep and 4,900 m long, temperature approx. 125 ° C |
| December 2011 | Injection well at 3,850 m depth and 5,130 m length |
| 1 August 2013 | Start of the first project phase |
| November 7, 2013 | Citizens' meeting with the presentation of the plans for the district heating supply |
| December 21, 2013 | Start of commissioning of the KiwE conveyor system and supply of greenhouse operations |
| 17th February 2014 | Start of planting 5.6 hectares of peppers and 6 hectares of tomatoes |
| May 2014 | Commissioning of the additional heat supply from the waste heat of a neighboring biogas plant |
| August 2014 | Start of construction of construction phase I of the district heating network |
| January 2015 | Commissioning of construction phase I of the district heating network |
| February 2015 | Start of construction of construction phase II of the district heating network |
| April 27, 2015 | Received the Special Award of the Global District Energy Climate Award in Tallinn, Estonia |
| May 8, 2015 | Inauguration of the district heating network and groundbreaking ceremony for the first extension of the greenhouse |
| December 2015 | Commissioning of the extension of the greenhouse to 20 ha |
| February 2016 | System expansion through the installation of a larger submersible motor pump and larger heat exchanger |
| September 2019 | After years of tug-of-war, FG-Gruppe takes over the main operating plan for Kirchweidach and can now plan the power plant and prepare the building permit |
| October 2019 | FG Group installs a new pump and builds the most modern thermal water circuit in Kirchweidach |
| February 2020 | FG Group submits a comprehensive building application for the Kirchweidach power plant with a total capacity of over 4 MW of electrical output |
| March 2020 | Kirchweidach municipal council approves building application - FG Group starts supplying heat to the municipality and vegetable growing |
Procedure
The hydrothermal geothermal energy process is used in Kirchweidach : The Malmkarst , a water-bearing rock layer ( aquifer ), is located at a depth of approx. 3,500 to 4,000 meters below the Kirchweidach community . From there, the hot water is pumped to the surface for further use. To use the thermal water, a double drilling was carried out: One borehole is used to convey the thermal water, which in this area is almost drinking water quality, and the other is used to return it directly to the same rock layer. The heat is extracted from the hot thermal water via closed plate heat exchangers and returned directly to the rock layer.
In the first project step, in which only the heating customers of the community are supplied, up to approx. 56 l / s of thermal water at up to 125 ° C are to be pumped. This supplies the largest customer, a vegetable grower and the local network. Tomatoes, peppers and strawberries are currently being produced there for up to 1,000,000 people. Up to 80 l / s of thermal water are pumped for the greenhouse with an area of approx. 20 ha. In the second phase of the project, expected from 2016, it is planned to expand the production to approx. 125 l / s thermal water at 125 ° C in order to also operate a geothermal power plant to generate electricity .
Use of district heating
District heating network
The district heating network in the municipality is being built in two construction phases. In 2014, around 12.6 kilometers of district heating pipelines were initially laid. The heating medium is the hot treated district heating water, which is heated by the hot thermal water via a heat exchanger. Since geothermal energy can be used at any time and without fluctuations, the base load is covered exclusively by geothermal energy. In planned and unplanned downtimes, on the other hand, the supply is ensured by two natural gas- fired reserve hot water generators and a heat storage device on the premises of the vegetable growing company.
300 household customers with a total installed capacity of approx. 9 MW will be connected to the district heating network in Kirchweidach . Taking into account the weather and various simultaneity factors, this means for the local network that approx. 5.1 MW of thermal power must be available.
| Thermal water temperature | approx. 120 ° C |
| Thermal output thermal water for district heating network | approx. 5 MW |
| District heating network flow temperature (depending on outside temperature) | Max. 90 ° C |
| District heating network return temperature | approx. 60 ° C |
Vegetable growing
The largest customer of the planned district heating network in Kirchweidach to date is a vegetable growing company. In 2013 and 2015, an approx. 20 hectare greenhouse complex was built here, which is heated by heat from deep geothermal energy. Except for any repair or other technical downtimes, the forecasted heat requirement of the greenhouse system is completely covered by the energy produced from deep geothermal energy.
Tomatoes, peppers and strawberries are grown in the greenhouse. According to the operator, more than 6.5 million liters of heating oil and 21.5 million kg of CO 2 can be saved by growing vegetables compared to conventional tomato growing in Spain or the Netherlands . In addition, since the majority of customers are mainly in the vicinity, more than 1,400,000 truck kilometers should be saved.
Further information and special features in the project implementation
The KiwE expects the thermal water supply, the heat extraction in the first and second project phases and the district heating network with an investment volume of up to 13 million euros.
The district heating project of the municipality is supported by funds from the market incentive program of the Federal Republic of Germany in the form of repayment grants and grants from the "Program for the increased expansion of deep geothermal heating networks" of the Bavarian State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Media, Energy and Technology via the LfA Förderbank Bayern with a total volume funded by over two million euros. In 2015, a larger submersible motor pump was purchased and the system was expanded with it. This work was funded with a repayment grant from the KfW Renewable Energy Program "Premium Deep Geothermal Energy".
For the tender for the planning of the district heating network and the construction of the district heating network including hydraulics, heat exchanger station, EMSR technology and the house transfer stations, three EU-wide award procedures were carried out.
For the second project phase, a sliding price was agreed for the thermal water, which is based on the opportunity costs due to the lost electricity income at the supplier. The price therefore changes depending on the outside temperature and the volume extracted by the district heating. The actual setting of the prices for the phase takes place only after the test runs of the system. The tariff structure was presented at the geothermie.bayern practice forum under the title Chances and Risks of a Heat Supply Contract in Practice .
The price escalation clauses for heat procurement from deep geothermal energy and district heating as well as for district heating customers are very stable. 60 to 75% of the prices for end customers are fixed or tied to the development of investment costs; only 5% are based on the costs in agriculture (biogas heat) and electricity. The cost development of heating oil or gas was not included.
The heat contract, which was described as innovative in the media industry, has been canceled since March 2020 with the consent of the contracting parties Kirchweidach - KiwE and FG Group. The background to this is a long-standing dispute over the terms and errors of the contract.
Awards
On April 27, 2015, the project in Tallinn received the Global District Energy Climate Award in the Special Award category from the European District Heating Association.
Web links
- GEO Energie Kirchweidach
- ITG information portal deep geothermal energy
- BR TV report part 1 ( Memento from May 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- BR TV report part 2 ( Memento from June 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- BR TV report about deep geothermal energy, project pictures from minutes 21 to 30
- Video about the presentation of the Global District Energy Climate Award with the "Special Award"
- Alt-Neuöttinger Anzeiger: The largest greenhouse complex in Bavaria is in Kirchweidach , November 27, 2015.
- Geothermal project on the website of the operating company FG
Individual evidence
- ↑ Energy transition in Bavaria: Aigner inaugurates geothermal project . In: IWR , May 8, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
- ↑ Market incentive program of the Federal Republic of Germany
- ↑ Praxisforum geothermie.bayern ( Memento of the original from May 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Lecture from the Geothermal Congress 2014: Innovative heat supply from deep geothermal energy
- ↑ http://www.districtenergyaward.org/deep-geothermal-energy-kirchweidach/
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from November 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
