Utility company Stadtwerke Neuruppin GmbH (SWN) has accepted the grant notification from the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control for EUR 10 million for a planned geothermal heating network project in the town of Neuruppin in Brandenburg, Germany. This funding will provide about 40% of the cost for the project that has an estimated budget of EUR 25.5 million.
The next step for the project would be to secure the approval from the mining authority and the building permit from the district. Due to these requirements and pending the 9-month delivery of the needed pipelines, drilling is not expected to start this year.
However, SWN will be preparing the drilling site in the next few months. This will warrant demolition of the building affectionately known as the “barracks” on the SWN site.
When drilling operations start, it is expected to take around six months. Two boreholes will be drilled at a distance of 20 meters and will reach depths of 1700 to 1800 meters. “The heat supply should start in 2027,” said Thoralf Uebach, Managing Director at SWN.
Mayor Nico Ruhle points out that despite the very high investment costs, the implementation of the geothermal project will ultimately provide price stability for the customers of SWN and the residents of Neuruppin. Wiebke Papenbrock, Member of the Bundestag, also campaigned for the project at the federal level as described it as a “lighthouse project that will radiate far beyond Neuruppin.”
