Herrenknecht AG has received the 2026 Ruggero Bertani European Geothermal Innovation Award for its UrbanVibroTruck, a seismic survey vehicle developed specifically for urban environments. The announcement was made by the European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) during the GeoTHERM expo & congress held in Offenburg, Germany.
The European Geothermal Innovation Award (EGIA) award recognises companies that make outstanding contributions to advancing geothermal energy in Europe.
Herrenknecht’s Urban Vibro Truck is a vehicle that is specifically designed for carrying out seismic surveys in towns and cities. Its significantly reduced noise emissions enable surveys to be carried out during the night while minimising impacts on local residents. The vehicle has EU road approval as a tractor, which can reduce permitting requirements for seismic survey activities.
“Winning this prestigious award is an excellent opportunity for us to showcase the benefits and the value that we can offer with the Urban Vibro Truck. We didn’t just build a nice vehicle that looks good, we have built a very functional vehicle which can make a real difference for the geothermal sector because now we can conduct seismic surveys much faster and also with better quality, and this is the most important thing. We already have one truck that can carry out surveys in towns and cities, and our goal is to have 10 of our Urban Vibro Trucks on the market by the end of 2026,” said Daniel Jaskulski, Division Manager – New Applications at Herrenknecht.
The first Urban Vibro Truck was built as a scientific test vehicle, supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, and additional trucks are now in production. The prototype has already completed its first seismic survey and was benchmarked against an established market device, producing comparable data. Following that initial campaign, the team identified further optimisation opportunities and has already implemented improvements that have enhanced seismic data quality.
EGEC congratulates Herrenknecht AG on this significant innovation and we believe that the Urban Vibro Truck will make a positive contribution towards increasing the uptake and accelerating the deployment of geothermal energy solutions in urban areas.
“The Ruggero Bertani European Geothermal Innovation Award is given to companies which have made an outstanding contribution towards the field of geothermal energy in the form of innovative products, scientific research or project initiatives. This year EGEC received 16 applications, and the jury of eight people, to whom I would like to give my special thanks, had a very difficult job to select the five finalists,” said Miklos Antics, EGEC President.
Every year, the EGIA attracts a high level of entries from companies wishing to share their innovative products, technologies and solutions with Europe’s geothermal community. This year, the jury selected five finalists, as follows:
- Deutsche Erdwärme GmbH, Advanced Injection Testing and Stimulation (Graben-Neudorf, Germany)
- Hephae Energy Technology, Beyond the Thermal Limit: Ultra-High Temperature Measurement-While-Drilling for Next-Generation Geothermal (UK)
- Herrenknecht AG, Urban Vibro Truck (Germany)
- OLI Systems, Geothermal Asset Integrity Modelling: Integrated Corrosion and Scaling Prediction Software (OLI Platform v12.5) (UK)
- QHeat, Unlocking Scalable Geothermal in Crystalline Rock Through Cost-Efficient and Collaborative Drilling (Finland)
To learn more about the UrbanVibroTruck, check out this interview we recorded with Daniel Jaskulski shortly after the awarding:
Source: Email correspondence
