Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Taaleri, a financial services company based in Finland, on its investment in Germany’s largest power generation project utilising geothermal energy which is planned to be implemented in the municipality of Icking, south of Munich. The project consists of five wells to be drilled and the power plant to be built over them.

Estimated to be completed in 2020, the plant will pump 150-degree water from a depth of approximately four kilometres, utilising thermal energy from the hot water to generate electrical power. The target power generation capacity is approximately 30 MW, the equivalent of the power consumption of 50,000 households.

The Norton Rose Fulbright team advising on the transaction was led by head of energy for Europe, Dr Klaus Bader (M&A) and of counsel Dr Christian Bauer (project finance), with assistance from of counsel Sebastian Frech and associates Stefanie Mösges and Rima Dressler. The firm advised on the current status due diligence and future development project, as well as the transaction documents.

Dr Klaus Bader comments:

“The Höhenrain project will be the largest-capacity geothermal power plant in Germany. Bavaria has a great potential from geothermal energy and we are delighted to be part of this development. The Höhenrain investment is another landmark in our advice of geothermal energy projects, following recent STRABAG/RAG’s purchase of project Bruck. We are currently advising on several other projects on the equity and debt side.”

The project has been developed by Erdwärme Bayern, a Munich-based development company specialising in geothermal energy. Together with its customers, Taaleri will be responsible for the equity financing of the construction stage. Erdwärme Bayern will remain in the project as a minority owner.