There are natural gas deposits south of Munich, for which the Munich-based company Terrain Energy is seeking a mining permit. In December 2022, she applied to the Miesbach district office for a permit to “explore hydrocarbons for commercial purposes”. The main occurrence is in the area northwest of the Holzkirchen geothermal site, but the approval zone called “Mühlleite” extends to the southeastern district of Munich, including parts of the Hofoldinger forest.
A small section is located on the border to Otterfing and Aying on Brunnthaler and Sauerlacher Flur. That’s why Marcus Endres, CEO of Terrain Energy, recently called the local authorities as public bodies to “communicate the facts clearly and unequivocally”. Terrain Energy belongs to Evoterra Ltd. based in London, a company committed to the energy transition, combining energy production from traditional and renewable sources under one roof.
According to its own statements, Terrain Energy is currently only trying to find a deposit in Holzkirchen. In Brunnthal, Mayor Stefan Kern recently informed his municipal council, which decided that Endres should present the plans publicly in one of the next meetings.
Gas from local production: Natural gas production has been discussed in Holzkirchen since 2014.
(Photo: Frank Rumpenhorst/dpa)
Since the first attempts in 2014, the project has met with considerable resistance. In Holzkirchen there are fears for the nearby geothermal plant, in Brunnthal Mayor Kern is concerned that the groundwater could be contaminated by the drilling. A fear that meets with a sensitized population in Brunnthal. Because the community has been fighting for a new well for years and has already fallen out with the neighbors in Sauerlach. At the same time, Managing Director Endres rules out any risk. It’s about 650 million cubic meters of natural gas, not oil. It is “a locally limited structure with layers that are largely thin,” he says. This domestic source must be used in view of the energy crisis.
According to Terrain Energy, the procedure has now been officially initiated precisely because of Holzkirchen’s concerns. The gas is to be mined using a conventional well. There is still no “drilling point”, i.e. drilling site, defined. Last year, three of them were under discussion, which Endres does not want to comment on when asked by SZ. Rather, he emphasizes that the risk is so low “that we expect approval.” The controversial extraction method using fracking is not planned and also not possible with the rock formations in Bavaria.
Fracking is not planned
Fracking as a mining method for shale gas has been banned in Germany since 2017. It means injecting a water-sand-chemical mixture through wells with high hydraulic pressure in order to create cracks in the rock or widen existing pores. Michael Drews, Professor of Geothermal Technologies at the Technical University of Munich, sees “according to the current state of research no rock formations that would be suitable for fracking”. In addition, the rock deposits must have a certain thickness in order to economically extract the gas contained therein.
In the opinion of Kai Zosseder from the Chair of Hydrogeology at the Technical University of Munich, fracking would, if at all, be carried out at such a depth that many layers of rock lay above it and escaping gases would not reach the groundwater. Mining and water authorities would check very carefully whether such dangers existed. The funding approval process has started. If it goes through, natural gas production in Holzkirchen is planned for twelve to 17 years.