OMV’s New Geothermal Venture Moves Vienna Away From Gas
- Joint venture with Vienna founded to generate geothermal heat
- Project is part of OMV’s strategy shift away from fossil fuel
Storage tanks at an oil refinery in Schwechat, Austria.
Photographer: Akos Stiller/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
OMV AG formed a geothermal joint venture with one of its biggest natural gas customers — the city of Vienna — to help heat homes and buildings in the Austrian capital and dial down the company’s fossil fuel business.
The so-called Deeep venture between OMV and Vienna’s municipal utility, Wien Energie GmbH, plans to begin drilling next year to tap boiling-hot reservoirs as much as 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) underground. It’s part of the city’s €20 billion ($21.5 billion) effort to eliminate the need for gas to heat homes and businesses over the next decade-and-a-half.