Rhineland-Palatinate econ min remains committed to geothermal power - report

Jul 29, 2013 - Eveline Lemke, economy minister of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, remains committed to the expansion of renewable energy despite the problems with the first such plant in the state.

Lemke, who is a member of the Greens, is thus affirming the state's target for covering 1% of the energy consumption with geothermal power by 2030, the minister told German daily Die Rheinpfalz.

However, the target for installing 10 to 12 geothermal power plants by 2016 will most probably be missed as more time is needed for resolving the problem with small earthquakes, Lemke said.

According to recent media reports, the Landau geothermal plant, which is the first in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, may be closed due to excessive costs.

The plant, the original capacity of which is 3 MW, is not able to work at full speed as there is a danger of small quakes and has been therefore operating at half of its capacity for years. The problem could be solved with a new drill hole.

However, according to Lemke, the plant, which was brought to operation in November 2007, will remain operational.

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