Geothermal needs to be developed in Germany, says government official

UNTERHACHING, Germany, July 11, 2007. Geothermal must be developed if Germany is to meet its goals of climate change and energy security.

“Geothermal energy already plays an important role in the heat sector but geothermal power plants can do more,” Parliamentary State Secretary Astrid Klug told the European Geothermal Congress. “They can also generate electricity.”

The world's first geothermal power plant was erected in Italy in 1913 and in many countries such as Iceland, “there is already a long tradition of using geothermal energy in power plants,” with the global installed electrical capacity from geothermal at 9,000 MW.

“In contrast to some other countries with favourable geological conditions, here in Germany, the use of geothermal energy in power plants is still in its infancy,” Klug said. Only one plant in Neustadt‑Glewe is currently operating, and two others will go into operation this year.

Geothermal has a firm role in heat supply in Germany, with thermal water used in southern regions for district heating systems and thermal baths, and there are 100,000 earth energy heat pumps installed in private homes with another 24,000 added every year due to funding support for heat pumps run by the German government.

“Theoretically speaking, Germany could cover its energy needs several times over using heat from deep underground; however, in practice this is currently only economically feasible in a few regions,” Klug added. “There are many promising signs of larger growth in the future; this can be seen in the number of approvals for concession areas for geothermal power plants.”

Data indicates that there are 150 projects in the planning stage in Germany, with an investment volume estimated at Euro 4 billion.

A progress report stipulated under the country’s Renewable Energy Sources Act will be submitted this year, which will include a review of the feed‑in tariffs for geothermal. Currently, the fee for installations up to 5 MW of capacity is 15 cents per kWh of electricity, payable for 20 years but market growth has fallen short of expectations due to the high initial risk and the need for capital. In addition, price increases in oil and gas exploration have resulted in high drilling costs and a lack of drillers for geothermal projects, resulting in lower economic viability of projects.

“The results of our support policy speak for themselves: we will achieve our EU target for the electricity sector this year, well before the 2010 deadline,” Klug concluded. “In total, we save at least 97 million tonnes of CO2 every year through the use of renewable energies and that is not all: more than 200,000 people have found work in the renewables sector in Germany, while the total turnover in the sector rose last year by 20%, to Euro 21.6 billion.”

“I'm convinced that, in the field of renewable energies, we cannot do without a development of geothermal energy to be successful.” Geothermal offers “enormous potential for climate protection, innovation in industry, securing an energy supply which is viable for the future and creating lasting employment” and it is a baseload supply that can provide “a constant supply of energy for a demand‑based energy generation. Geothermal power plants can thus make an important contribution to the security of supply.”

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