Green Energy Hub
What is the Rupertiwinkel Green Energy Hub?
GTR is repurposing the drilling pad located on the outskirts of Kirchanschöring to deliver an integrated heating, cooling and electricity generation and electricity storage facility, by exploiting the geothermal resources identified by the GTR geothermal drilling activities in 2021.
The Green Energy Hub will comprise the following integrated green energy systems:
Stream I: 3-9MWth geothermal plant delivering heating and cooling into the Kirchanschöring district heating network and industrial facilities.
Stream II: 10MWe Battery Energy Storage System to store green electricity.
Stream III: 3-5MWe petrothermal project to generate green electricity.
Delivering A Green Energy Hub
Applications of Geothermal Energy
There are many residential, commercial and industrial applications for geothermal energy, depending upon the temperature requirements and require different geothermal system to deliver the heating, cooling, power generation and energy storage.
Chart sources: IEA analysis based on data from Arpagaus, C. et al. (2018)
“Ruperti II” Geothermal Field and its drilling pad
The Kirchanschöring geothermal drilling pad lies within the 92km2 “Rupert II” geothermal field on the south-eastern outskirts of the village of Kirchanschöring in the district of Traunstein, Bavaria.
The 25.000m2 drilling permit includes a 6.000m2 drilling pad with four constructed drilling cellars, three of which are unused.
Legacy Drilling
The geothermal borehole KIR-GT2 and its sidetrack KIR-GT2-ST1 were successfully drilled in 2021 to depths of 6’133mMD and 6’217mMD to target the Upper Jurassic Malm carbonate reservoirs for hydrothermal production. Measured reservoir temperatures were greater than 150degC which is sufficient to generate electricity.
Drilling Results
Flow testing of the Malm reservoir failed to generate sufficient flow rates for a hydrothermal project. The Malm reservoir was ‘tight’ with permeability reduction caused by calcite cementation. The KIR-GT2 borehole was secured in September 2021 and was cement plugged at four levels and backfilled to surface in accordance with the July 1998 directive of the Clausthal-Zellerfeld Mining Authority. There has been no activity on the drilling pad since August 2023.
GTR’s Forward Plan
GTR was acquired in February 2026 by ZeroGeo Energy GmbH, a specialised developer of geothermal resources, with the objective to develop the Kirchanschöring drilling site into a Green Energy Hub with an integrated green energy system:
The activities being undertaken by GTR to deliver a Green Energy Hub:
Install a 3-9MWth geothermal plant with downhole heat exchangers to exploit the proven geothermal heat resource to deliver heating and cooling into the Kirchanschöring district network.
Install a 10MWe Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). Arbitrage power into the German grid and provide parasitic load power for the geothermal plant, heat exchangers and downhole pumps.
Undertake a 3-5MWe project to generate electricity using petrothermal (*EGS and/or **AGS) technology and modular Organic Rankine Cycle systems. GTR is supported by the European Investment Bank and is seeking funding from the EU Innovation Fund for this project.
* EGS: Engineered Geothermal System
** AGS: Advanced Geothermal System