Innargi granted geothermal exploration permit for Kiel, Germany
The port of Kiel, Germany (source: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Carlo Cariaga
7 Apr 2025
The State Office for Mining, Energy, and Geology has granted Innargi the geothermal exploration permit for the city of Kiel, Germany and surrounding areas.
The State Office for Mining, Energy and Geology (LBEG) of Lower Saxony, Germany has granted Danish geothermal developer Innargi with the geothermal exploration permit for the city of Kiel and its surrounding areas. The permit is limited to five years and will expire on 28 February 2030.
The exploration permit is specifically for “Kiel and Surroundings.” This permit area covers just over 280 square kilometers and includes the state capital, the Kiel Fjord, and adjacent areas between Strande in the north, Klein Barkau in the south, Melsdorf in the west, and Dobersdorf in the east.
Innargi had previously signed an agreement with local utility Stadtwerke Kiel to investigate the potential for geothermal district heating in the city of Kiel. The company will be executing the project through local subsidiary Innargi Germany Project I GmbH. The permit gives Innargi Germany Project I GmbH the fundamental right to conduct the exploration. However, actual exploration activities may only begin after approval of operating plans under mining law, which requires, among other things, a separate participation process.
“We are delighted to have been granted the geothermal exploration license for Kiel and the surrounding area. This enables us to progress together with Stadtwerke Kiel to potentially develop a geothermal project. We anticipate the subsurface will be favourable for hydrogeothermal, hence it could turn out to be a stable and secure energy source for the city of Kiel,” said Stephan Ghisler-Solvang, Director of Communications & Public Affairs at Innargi.
The city utility have welcomed this development, but also emphasized that their current focus is another heating project.
“We are pleased that Innargi GmbH has received the exploration license for geothermal energy for the area “Kiel and surroundings.” Due to the project prioritization carried out by Kieler Stadtwerke, we will initially focus on our seawater heat pump project. Therefore, we are concentrating our organizational resources on the rapid development of this project,” said Sönke Schuster, spokesperson of Stadtwerke Kiel.
“However, we are maintaining our letter of intent with Innargi for a potential future project.”
Source: LBEG Niedersachsen
