Drilling for the project started back in January 2023, initially targeting a depth of 3500 meters. This was reached in May 2023, but well testing indicated that the flowrate of the well did not support commercial operations although the temperature was sufficiently high at 125 °C. A decision was then made to drill a sidetrack well into another pre-defined target. The sidetrack well was also not commercially productive.
After extensive evaluation and analysis of the drilling data, a second sidetrack well was drilled, targeting the Hochscholle region of the Malm aquifer. This finally resulted in the hoped-for productivity. The measured drilling depth was 4750 meters at a total depth of 3050 meters.
The next step for the project will be the drilling of the reinjection borehole. At the surface, the two wells will only be 10 meters apart. At the subsurface, the bottom of the wells will be spaced around 1 kilometer apart to prevent thermal breakthrough.
Naturwärme Kirchweidach-Halsbach was founded as a joint project between the companies Präzisionsbau Steiner and Biohof Kirchweidach, together with the municipality of Kirchweidach. The geothermal project is meant to supply heat to the greenhouses of the two companies, as well as the municipal district heating network.
Kirchweidach is also the site of the first Kirchweidach geothermal project, a combined heat and power (CHP) that started with greenhouse heating operations in 2013. The project was then modified with geothermal power generation through modular power units in 2019 and a 4-MW binary system in 2020.
