Stadtwerke München (SWM), Germany: Enhancing geothermal sustainability with Omnivise T3000

Since 2021, Stadtwerke München (SWM) has operated Germany’s largest geothermal plant, supplying sustainable heat to the city of Munich. The facility comprises six drillings reaching depths between 2,670 and 3,140 meters, forming three drilling pairs, known as doublets, each connected to separate heat lines to ensure high operational availability. With a total thermal output of 50 megawatts, the plant produces enough renewable heat to serve approximately 80,000 residents.

The main challenge was to integrate Germany’s largest geothermal facility into three existing district heating networks, each operating with different pressure systems. This required a sophisticated network switchover setup capable of managing the diverse hydraulic conditions across Munich. At the same time, the geothermal plant’s sensitive submersible centrifugal pumps demanded precise control to avoid unnecessary load transients, rapid regulation, or frequent start‑stop cycles that could shorten equipment lifetime.

To address these requirements, SWM needed a control system that could coordinate all three drilling doublets and their associated heat lines with high operational stability and seamless compatibility with the existing district heating infrastructure. Achieving this level of integration and operational reliability was essential to secure a stable, efficient and long‑term sustainable heat supply.

SWM selected Omnivise T3000 for its combination of reliability, flexibility, and compatibility with diverse external systems. To meet Munich’s complex district heating requirements, the Siemens Energy team engineered and installed a sophisticated district‑heating network switchover, ensuring safe operation across the three existing networks with different pressure regimes; this switchover is fully supervised and controlled by Omnivise T3000.

In addition, the geothermal plant required numerous interfaces, including IEC 61850 switchgear communication and several Modbus TCP/IP and Modbus RTU (RS‑485) connections. Each drilling doublet is managed by a highly redundant automation unit that stabilizes operation and extends the lifetime of key components such as the submersible pump through bypass operation and finely tuned control strategies.

The entire plant is operated centrally from a single main control room, where Omnivise T3000’s multi‑unit functionality enables efficient operation by only a few operators, who can monitor and manage every unit from any workstation. As the district heating plant continues to expand, the five main units will ultimately reach an output of approximately 700 MW electric and 800 MW thermal, all coordinated from one control center. 19 interconnected Omnivise T3000 systems ensure seamless data exchange and safeguard Munich’s secure and reliable heat supply.

Through the implementation of Omnivise T3000, SWM achieved a highly coordinated and transparent control environment for its geothermal operations. The platform centralizes all automation tasks in one control room, enabling efficient system monitoring and operational optimization. Operators benefit from clear FBD plans and an user-friendly HMI, which make complex geothermal processes easier to understand and manage. The system’s flexibility and high degree of integration, paired with its ability to communicate smoothly with multiple external systems, create a reliable foundation for future expansion of Munich’s district heating network.