Preparations are being made to start drilling for the first deep geothermal plant in Vienna

• OMV and Wien Energie are carrying out geothermal drilling in the deeep joint venture
• Drilling to start in winter 2024/2025
• Climate-neutral district heating from deep geothermal energy for up to 20,000 Viennese households from 2028
• Potential for up to 200,000 households

An important milestone for Vienna's first deep geothermal plant has been reached: OMV and Wien Energie, through their joint venture deeep, have completed the necessary approval procedures and are starting to set up the well site. 

“Vienna offers ideal conditions for the use of deep geothermal energy,” says Peter Weinelt, CEO of Wiener Stadtwerke. “We have a large natural hot water reservoir deep under the city and a well-developed district heating network to distribute the energy to customers. This not only helps the climate, but the technology also contributes to security of supply and price stability, making Vienna a little more independent of gas imports.”

deeep is currently preparing the well site in Aspern (Vienna-Donaustadt) for drilling deep wells, which will start in winter 2024/2025. The plant is designed to generate climate-neutral district heating for the equivalent of up to 20,000 Viennese households in the future. "After years of research and planning, we are now starting to implement. Together with our partner OMV, we founded the joint venture deeep last year to combine our strengths. We want to use deep geothermal energy to drive forward the heating revolution in Vienna and to make district heating carbon-neutral by 2040. The construction of Vienna's first plant using deep geothermal energy brings us a big step closer to achieving this goal,” explains Michael Strebl, CEO of Wien Energie.

The deep wells are the centerpiece of the facility in Aspern. They will reach depths of over 3,000 meters to use the hot formation water for heat generation. OMV is responsible for the subsurface section of the deeep project. "OMV is committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest. Geothermal energy plays an important role in our strategy. With this innovative technology, we are reducing CO2 emissions and countering climate change. We are drawing on our decades of experience in the exploration and drilling business. With the construction of the well site, we are now one step closer to the sustainable production of district heating in Vienna,” said Alfred Stern, Chairman of the Executive Board of OMV Aktiengesellschaft.

Potential: green heat for up to 200,000 Viennese households

The first geothermal plant of deeep will serve as the basis for the further expansion of geothermal energy in Vienna. Overall, OMV and Wien Energie want to develop geothermal plants with a capacity of up to 200 megawatts. This will enable the production of climate-neutral district heating for the equivalent of up to 200,000 Viennese households. The partners plan to implement up to seven geothermal plants in Vienna as part of a field development. In a field development, several wells and plant locations are planned and constructed in parallel. This has the advantage that resources can be used more efficiently. The exact schedule for the implementation and the capacity of these additional plants depends on the findings from the pilot plant in Aspern.

The geothermal energy plant in Aspern

The future plant site is located on the outskirts of Seestadt Aspern/Vienna. The construction of the well site there will take around three months. During this time, the deeep project team will build the access roads to the future plant site, prepare the necessary infrastructure, and set up construction containers. Finally, the drilling rig for the deep drilling will be set up. An information center for residents and interested parties will also be set up at the well site. The start of drilling is planned for winter 2024/2025.

Surface facilities will be built after production tests

In the summer of 2025, so-called production tests will be carried out after drilling. During these tests, the project team will examine the encountered formation water in terms of temperature, chemical composition and production volume. Due to its millions of years of isolation in the rock, the thermal water stored in the eastern Vienna area has a high mineralization (e.g. salt content) and is therefore not drinkable. Based on the findings from these investigations, the surface facilities – i.e. the part of the geothermal plant at the earth's surface – will be constructed from 2026. Wien Energie is primarily responsible for this part of the plant in the deeep joint venture. The geothermal plant Aspern is scheduled to commence operations in 2028.

This is how the usage of deep geothermal energy works

Deep geothermal energy is a crucial component for the heat transition. The technology reduces the dependency on energy imports and is a regional energy source. It is also 100 percent climate neutral. No matter how cold it is outside, the deeper it goes below the earth's surface, the warmer it gets. The water that is more than 3,000 meters below the earth's surface is more than 100°C hot.

This hot water reservoir can be used for district heating. A production pump is pumping formation water to the surface. At the surface, the heat is taken from the water via heat exchangers. The extracted heat is fed into the district heating network and distributed. The cooled water is returned to the original reservoir after the heat has been extracted. This creates a closed renewable cycle.

Key data for the geothermal plant Aspern
 

• Plant location: Seestadt Aspern, 1220 Vienna
• Planned capacity: around 20 megawatts thermal (including heat pumps from Wien Energie)
• District heating for the equivalent of up to 20,000 Viennese households
• Planned start of drilling: winter 2024/2025
• Planned commissioning: 2028
• Planned investment volume: around 90 million euros. The project is funded by the environmental funding of the Ministry for Climate Action.

About OMV Aktiengesellschaft

At OMV, we are re-inventing essentials for sustainable living. OMV is transitioning to become an integrated sustainable chemicals, fuels and energy company with a focus on circular economy solutions. By gradually switching over to low-carbon businesses, OMV is striving to achieve net zero by latest 2050. The company achieved revenues of EUR 39 billion in 2023 with a diverse and talented workforce of around 20,600 employees worldwide. OMV shares are traded on the Vienna Stock Exchange (OMV) and as American Depository Receipts (OMVKY) in the U.S. Further information at www.omv.com.

About Wien Energie

Wien Energie is Austria's largest regional energy provider. The company is a reliable supplier of energy to around two million people and 230,000 commercial and industrial facilities. Electricity and heat are produced from cogeneration, waste recycling and renewable energy such as solar, wind and hydropower as well as biomass. Wien Energie is massively expanding the share of renewable energy sources and making an active contribution to the path to climate neutrality in 2040. Information about the company can be found online at www.wienenergie.at