North Rhine-Westphalia: Experts: NRW offers great potential for using geothermal energy

Bochum (dpa/lnw) - According to experts, North Rhine-Westphalia offers great potential for the use of geothermal energy.

North Rhine-Westphalia: Experts: NRW offers great potential for using geothermal energy

Bochum (dpa/lnw) - According to experts, North Rhine-Westphalia offers great potential for the use of geothermal energy. "More than a quarter of the municipal and industrial heat requirement could be supplied via deep geothermal energy," said the institute director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Infrastructures and Geothermal Energy (IEG), Rolf Backe, on Wednesday in Bochum. So far, however, there have hardly been any deep drillings in NRW.

Deep geothermal energy often involves drilling several kilometers deep into the earth in order to extract heat from there. Experts expect the temperature to rise by around 30 degrees per kilometer. According to the IEG, up to 80,000 households could be heated with a single geothermal system. So far, however, a system has been too expensive for many municipalities and the risk too high.

In North Rhine-Westphalia there is still a lack of geological data on the subsoil, said Bracke. Through data from the hard coal mining industry, the first kilometer underground is known in many areas, but "beneath that is unknown terrain". Therefore, the underground must first be explored.

The state is required to do this. Municipal utilities, industrial companies and financiers can only be prevented from realizing geothermal projects by supporting research projects.

Overall, Bracke expressed his confidence: The Rhine-Ruhr region, with its strong tradition as an energy, industrial and mining location, has everything it takes to master the challenges of the heat transition. "Geothermal energy will be able to compete economically with natural gas supply."