Heat company Ennatuurlijk took over all geothermal activities from ECW Energy early this year. Six months later, Ernst Japikse, CEO, and Alexander van Noort, director of Ennatuurlijk Geothermal, speak of a 'step towards maturity of the geothermal market' in a blog post.
The first priority is to make its own heat networks more sustainable. Ernst: "We took over ECW Geoholding because they successfully supply geothermal heat to horticulturalists in the Middenmeer greenhouse area. They have mastered that trick and are the best in the Netherlands. We will first build on that expertise and apply it to our own customers in other industries. Starting with the heat networks in central and western Brabant and Eindhoven, where geothermal heat plays an important role in sustainability. Here, we can replace non-sustainable sources with sustainable geothermal sources. Our shareholders support us in this."
Toasting at the acquisition of ECW Geoholding B.V.
Three more wells at Middenmeer
They also want to grow and scale up elsewhere. Alexander: "In 2024, we will start seismic and exploratory drilling in Moerdijk and Eindhoven. In addition, we have the approval to drill another three geothermal wells in Middenmeer. We will then already enjoy the benefits of the acquisition immediately. Because we will be drilling three wells, we have the volume and financial capacity to scale up and enrich the Ennatuurlijk Geothermal Heat team with additional specialist knowledge. So that we can secure that in-house and no longer need to hire it."
Standardise
Ennatuurlijk Geothermal has big plans to make geothermal heat more accessible and cheaper in the future. They want to standardize. Alexander: "Drilling for geothermal heat still involves a lot of innovation, which makes every drilling unique and therefore expensive. We want to use standardization to optimize quality and thus reduce costs. Now, geothermal heat is only profitable for large projects of 5,000 to 10,000 homes. In the future, using new techniques, we also want to be able to use geothermal heat to make neighborhoods of 500 to 1,000 homes more sustainable."
Source: Ennatuurlijk