Geothermal power plant in Bruchsal, Germany soon to supply district heating network
Bruchsal geothermal power plant, Germany (source: EnBW)
Carlo Cariaga
15 Jan 2026
The geothermal power plant in Bruchsal, Germany will soon start supplying energy to the local district heating network, which will be a first in Baden-Württemberg.
The geothermal power plant in the city of Bruchsal, Germany will soon supply heat as well to the city’s’ district heating network. The project is expected to start by the autumn of 2026 in time for the next heating season.
The Bruchsal geothermal power plant, which happens to be the oldest geothermal power plant in the state of Baden-Württemberg, is operated by Energie Baden-Württemberg (EnBW) after taking control back in 2012. The facility has been operating since 2009 with a 0.5 MWe power generation capacity. Since 2019, it has also been supplying heat to neighboring customers with a maximum thermal output of just 6 MW.
“For Baden-Württemberg, this is actually the first time that heat from geothermal energy is being fed into a network,” said Thomas Kölbel, Managing Director of EnBW.
As part of the initiative, the municipal utility company Stadtwerke Bruchsal will be expanding the district heating network to supply approximately 6000 households, which would cover a quarter of the households in Bruchsal. The company states that it is investing around EUR 100 million for the expansion, and that entire city center will be connected within 10 years. Approximately 65% of the heating requirement of the expanded network will be supplied by the geothermal plant.
Source: SWR
