What did the Upper Rhine Graben look like more than 45 million years ago, what are the advantages of deep geothermal energy and how exactly does the German-Australian company Vulcan Energy extract lithium from the Palatinate brine, which is so valuable for the production of batteries for electric cars, smartphones and laptops? This and other exciting information was given to students and teachers on a geography course at the Max Planck High School in Ludwigshafen on Tuesday, April 9, during a guided tour of the Insheim geothermal power plant. The eleventh graders listened with great interest to the presentation by two Vulcan employees and asked many questions about the power plant and Vulcan’s mission. The students and their teachers were particularly impressed by the numerous, branching silver and red metal pipes that run through the entire facility and transport the millions of years old hot deep water. Inside the power plant, the group of students then inspected one of Vulcan’s two pilot plants, which are used to filter lithium chloride from the brine.

Vulcan is planning to build an integrated geothermal and lithium extraction plant in Landau’s industrial park, which will secure the supply of CO2-neutral heat for Landau and the region in the future. Vulcan, the city of Landau and the surrounding communities of Insheim, Herxheim and Rohrbach have now reached an agreement on the distribution of the trade tax from the planned plant. This specifies that Vulcan will pay the taxes incurred directly on site and that these will then be distributed among the above municipalities. This will ensure that the region benefits fully from Vulcan’s project. Click here for the press release of the city of Landau.

We have achieved another important step for our drilling site 40 Morgen in the Herxheim district near Landau. In November 2023, the Speyer State Archaeology Directorate carried out an archaeological excavation on the site of the future drilling site. This investigation was necessary because the drilling site is close to two excavation protection areas and various archaeological sites and based on the results of the exploratory drilling carried out there in April 2023. In order to minimize the impact on the ground, the design of the drilling site was adapted in advance in consultation with the Directorate of State Archaeology. The excavation made it possible to document and secure the finds and thus preserve the cultural heritage of the region. The drilling site can now be constructed to realize our plans for CO2-neutral heat for the region and CO2-neutral lithium. We would like to thank Landesarchäologie Speyer for their excellent cooperation.