Munster-Bispingen City Works Get Green Light for Geothermal Project
Munster-Bispingen City Works have received a significant boost for their geothermal project. The State Office for Mining, Energy and Geology (LBEG) has approved their main operating plan, allowing them to officially become a mining company in the United States. This is a first for city works in the USA, and a 'Christmas gift' according to Managing Director Jan Niemann.
The project, which began in 2008, has evolved to focus on reusing an existing borehole drilled by Exxon-Mobil in 2015. The city works will deepen and deflect this borehole by about 40 meters and 150 meters respectively, targeting a depth of around five kilometers. This will enable them to extract heat from the earth in a closed circuit, with hot water being pumped back down via a second borehole.
The decision by the LBEG is a major milestone, but further individual approvals from the mining authority will be required for all subsequent steps. Initially, the city works planned to create two new boreholes to supply the military, but this investment did not materialize. Instead, they will now utilize the existing borehole, a move that Niemann described as a 'game changer'. The city works have been granted over seven million euros in funding for this process.
Munster-Bispingen City Works are set to become the first city works in the United States to operate as a mining company, thanks to the approval of their geothermal project. This innovative use of existing infrastructure could pave the way for similar projects in the future, as the city works aim to harness the earth's heat in a sustainable and efficient manner.
