Three companies, Y-CAD SA, Orllati Real Estate SA, and MalmEnergie Naturelle SA, have created the YOM consortium to launch a joint geothermal exploration campaign in the North Vaud region of Switzerland. By the fall of 2025, the first phase of the project will start with a detailed seismic survey covering 29 municipalities in the Yverdon-les-Bains region.
Each of the consortium members holds a surface exploration permit covering distinct areas in the Yverdon-les-Bains region. They also come with different specializations and experience. Y-CAD SA, based in Yverdon-les-Bains and specializing in district heating. MalmEnergie Naturelle SA offers its experience in a first project in Montagny-près-Yverdon. Orllati Real Estate SA is a company specializing in construction and real estate development and the development of geothermal energy through its company Orllati Géothermie SA.
The first phase of the project, called “GeothermY,” is a data acquisition campaign that will start by the fall of 2025. this will involve establishing a 3D map of the subsoil, over an area of nearly 100 square kilometers covering 29 municipalities in the North of Vaud. In concrete terms, a system of small sensors (geophones) will be placed on the ground, in order to grid each area to be measured. Then, for approximately 4 weeks during the night, vibrating trucks will be in operation simultaneously in different areas of the territory, emitting vibrations every 30 meters.
If successful, it will be followed by a subsurface research phase using, for example, prospecting drilling, to more precisely define the parameters and characteristics of the subsurface and size a future geothermal exploitation facility.
Several surface research campaigns have already been deployed in the canton of Vaud, particularly in the regions of La Côte and Morges and in the Lausanne metropolitan area.
