The Landau Geothermal Power Plant
Landau in der Pfalz, Germany
The idea for the Landau Geothermal Power Plant grew out of the experience made in the Soultz project and out of the insight, that after more than one decade of intensive research in Soultz, geoscientists should apply their joint knowledge to a commercial project. In all the deep wells in Soultz, several faulting fracture systems were observed in the layers above the EGS target horizon (sediment and crystalline rock). It was therefore safe to assume that similar open structures could also be expected in deeper depths and hotter environments in other locations in the Upper Rhine Graben.
 BESTEC |
Objective
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2.9 MW electrical power and 3 MW thermal output
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Wells
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2
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Vertical Depth
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3,000 m
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Temperature
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160°C
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Flow Rate
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70-80 l/s
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Reservoir
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EGS/hydrothermal
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Power Plant
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ORC
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Construction
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2004 to 2007
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Status
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feed-in of up to 3.8 MWe
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The Landau Geothermal Power Plant is the first commercial geothermal power plant with an electrical output in the megawatt range in Germany. The plant was officially commissioned on November 21st, 2007. For the first time, energy could be extracted from hot water reservoirs that are efficient and hot enough to produce a gross output of more than 3 MW. The integration of the injection well only became possible in Landau after new technologies for improving the well had been successfully applied.
The Landau Geothermal Power Plant was establised as pilot plant by PFALZWERKE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT and Energie Südwest AG forming a joint venture, the geo x GmbH. BESTEC was the general contractor in charge of all underground work, planning and installation of the thermal circuit. Since the beginning of 2014 Geysir Europe GmbH is the majority shareholder of geo x GmbH.