Tender – Takeover of a geothermal research well in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

View of Wuippertal in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (source: JensD, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Carlo Cariaga 4 Sep 2025

The State of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany has announced a competitive process for the takeover of a geothermal research borehole to be drilled as part of a multi-year exploration and drilling program of the Geological Survey of North Rhine-Westphalia (GD NRW) on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Click here to access all documents related to the tender.

In order to significantly improve the geothermal database and demonstrate the performance of potential geothermal reservoirs  in North Rhine-Westphalia and , the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (MWIKE) has commissioned the Geological Survey of North Rhine-Westphalia (GD NRW) to implement an exploration and drilling program for the years 2024 to 2028e.

The goal of this program is to significantly reduce the discovery risk for medium-deep and deep geothermal wells through exploratory measures. In this context, the GD NRW will drill research boreholes up to 2,000 meters deep as part of the state’s geological survey. Research drilling has so far been completed in Krefeld, and another will be drilled in Cologne.

To ensure that such wells that find success are not dismantled, heat transition project developers in North Rhine-Westphalia are seeking subsequent use. A competitive process is now underway to find a suitable location and a potential buyer for one of these wells. This will ensure that the well, should it be successful, can be immediately put to useful subsequent use.

The objective of this call for competition is to determine the location of the drilling site in advance of the planning and implementation of this research drilling and, in the event of discovery, to determine a potential buyer. The buyer must pay a standard market price for the acquisition of a successful drilling. For this purpose, the potential buyer will provide GD NRW with a suitable piece of land under its control or ownership for the duration of the drilling for the preparation and implementation of this research drilling.

The well will be financed by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, thus absorbing the discovery risk. Acquisition by the pre-selected buyer will only occur if the project is successful. A corresponding contract will be concluded between the buyer and MWIKE. The site’s suitability will be assessed beforehand. A jury of experts will then select the site from the remaining applications. The key selection criterion is the price offered for the successful well.

Source: NRW Business Service Portal