It’s springtime in Germany, the sun is shining, and our team are on the ground talking to the community about Vulcan and our Zero Carbon Lithium™ Project.

Over the last month, Vulcan’s Community team has hosted eight roadshow events in the South Palatine Region, Germany. Information stalls were held in Billigheim, Rohrbach, Landau, Offenbach and Herxheim, culminating in an information-event with around 100 Citizens. With an innovative, dynamic thematic table concept (with various topics such as 3D seismics, geology, communication & public relations, participation, heat generation, insurance and much more), the participants were able to choose the topics of interest to them independently.

Informing communities at the Maimarket in Mannheim, Palatine Region, Germany

Vulcan has strong connections in Mannheim, having just signed a heat offtake agreement with MVV Energie AG, the largest municipal energy company in Germany, for the provision of renewable heat to 25,000 – 35,000 households in the city. Mannheim’s Maimarket is Germany’s largest regional trade fair with more than 800 exhibitors and over 200,000 visitors. We were proud to show our work and inform the community about geothermal, lithium and the Zero Carbon Lithium™ Project.

Beate Holzwarth, CCO Germany and her team were responsible for the organisation and content implementation. Over the 10 days they’ve reached over 3,000 citizens.

Dr Horst Kreuter, CEO Germany and Thorsten Weimann, CEO Natürlich Insheim, attended many roadshow events including the Maimarket. Reflecting on the opportunity to speak with Media and so many locals, Horst said, “Stakeholder engagement and community and public relations are an important part of our project development. For every decarbonisation or renewable energy project, it is vital that there is a tangible benefit to communities. We are focused on leveraging our local knowledge and expertise to make a positive contribution to the energy transition in the region.

“We were proud to sign a heat offtake agreement with MVV last month, which represents a real and immediate step taken by a German energy utility to achieve energy security whilst not compromising on climate goals”.

Building on the important work of the roadshow, the opening of Vulcan’s community information centres is progressing with shopfronts in Insheim, Landau and Karlsruhe launching in the coming months, followed by Mannheim and Bühl. The ‘Infocentres’ ensure we have an ongoing, tangible presence in the communities where we hope to operate, while providing locals with the opportunity to ask questions and understand the benefits Vulcan and the energy transition can bring to their community.