Energie Baden - Wuerttemberg (EnBW) and Icelandic National Energy Authority have last Wednesday announced that they are looking to transport electricity via an ocean cable. The cable would tie together the geothermal energy of Iceland with Europe’s biggest domestic energy consumer.
This comes at a time when German energy companies are increasingly looking to diversify their energy portfolios and move away from their traditional dependence on Russian gas. EnBW in particular which is at home in Southern Germany has made it a goal to adopt clean and renewable energy for the future mix. EnBW’s efforts are helped by the fact that it is located in one of the states in Germany which plays host a hotbed of renewable energy firms.
The project will involve drilling holes to a depth of 5 km to find hot geothermal rocks , as opposed to the traditional depth of 2 kms. It is hoped that thereby a great deal more power will be generated (5-10 times the conventional yield). At the moment EnBW’s role is not clear in the project, considering the distances involved this will be quiet a challenge. EnBW however sees geothermal as being cleaner then other forms of energy such as hydro at the moment. It is also hoped that the project will be a first step in a direction where the European energy market will operate truly without borders.
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http://www.enbw.com/content/en/index.jsp
