The state capital of Hanover in Lower Saxony, Germany has provided a municipal site in Lahe, at the corner of Kirchhorster Straße and Alte Peiner Heerstraße, under a long-term leasehold agreement to a planned geothermal heating project using the pioneering closed-loop technology of Eavor Technologies. With a target capacity of 30 MW, the project is expected to start supplying to the heating network by 2027.
The system will draw heat from a depth of approximately 3200 meters using the so-called Eavor-Loop™ system. Eavor’s closed system operates without access to natural hot water reservoirs. Instead, a water-based medium circulates through kilometers of deep boreholes – powered solely by the so-called thermosiphon effect. Heat is absorbed from the surrounding rock through thermal conduction and transported to the surface.
Eavor is already at the advanced stages of developing a similar system at the Gerestried site, where the company is targeting the first commercial deployment of the technology later this year.
Two of these systems, each with a capacity of 15 MW, are planned for the Hannover-Lahe site. They are expected to supply approximately 250 million kWh per year, enough to heat up to 20,000 households and cover up to 20% of Hanover’s district heating needs. In 2023, Eavor signed a heat supply agreement with regional utility enercity.
“Hanover is a pioneer, as it is the first plant of its kind in a major city. With this, we want to make rural, climate-friendly geothermal energy suitable for urban use and also offer a blueprint for other cities. This project is a decisive step toward converting the state capital’s district heating supply to renewable and independent energy. The innovative approach will generate interest in the solution beyond our borders,” said Hanover’s Mayor Belit Onay.
“Our goal is to supply cities with renewable and reliable energy using scalable deep geothermal energy – entirely without emissions, fracking, or thermal sources. Hanover is the first major city in Germany where we are permitted to implement this technology – and we are very grateful to the state capital and enercity for this,” says Marco Becker, Managing Director of Eavor GmbH. “Following our first project in Geretsried, this is a milestone for our company and a clear sign of the transformation of heat supply.”
The project partners will soon be presenting at a public session of the Bothfeld-Vahrenheide District Council. This will be followed by a presentation at the Geothermal Energy Day at the State Office for Mining, Energy and Geology (Stilleweg).
Source: Eavor Deutschland and Hannover
