Herrenknecht extends its technological and market range. The newly founded >>Herrenknecht Vertical GmbH<< develops and manufactures vertical drilling rigs for geothermal projects.
Herrenknecht?s core competence is in the development, manufacture, global sale and innovation of mechanized tunnelling technology. For more than 28 years, this technology, being increasingly in demand, has been deployed worldwide to bore efficient tunnels for traffic systems as well as underground supply and disposal systems. With the newly founded "Herrenknecht Vertical GmbH", Herrenknecht ?goes deep underground? with its know-how and enters a new and promising market with vertical drilling rigs for geothermal projects. The new Schwanau-based Herrenknecht firm will focus mainly on the manufacture of efficient vertical drilling rigs, developed to set new standards in terms of ecological and inner-city compatibility.
This compatibility is particularly vital for geothermal projects that will increasingly be carried out in Germany in densely-populated urban environments to guarantee the basic supply of energy. For "Herrenknecht Vertical GmbH", the challenge in terms of mechanical engineering is with the development and implementation of an innovative concept for a deep-drilling rig that is trend-setting regarding energy consumption, space requirements, minimization of noise pollution as well as performance for drills up to 5,000m. Here, Herrenknecht can rely on its experience gained in mechanized tunnelling.
At present, there are only a few businesses that offer purely technological solutions and that are specialized in the manufacture of this kind of vertical drilling rigs. Thus, "Herrenknecht Vertical GmbH" has excellent growth prospects. According to industry experts, more than 20 deep-drilling rigs for geothermal projects will be needed in Germany alone within the next fifteen years. Since this is a young and environmentally friendly way of producing energy, an internationalization of the method is also expected in this field of geothermal energy with drillings up to 5,000m deep.
"Herrenknecht Vertical GmbH" starts to begin operations as a small, independent business with nine employees. Due to the considerable demand in terms of engineering, the staff will be increased to fifteen employees, particularly technicians and highly qualified engineers with experiences in the industry, until the end of 2005. Already this year, the first deep-drilling rig will be placed on the market. Probably at the end of 2005, the about 45 meter high rig will be installed for test drills on the Herrenknecht premises.
