Electricity from geothermal sources is expected to grow in Germany mainly because a law that benefits the production of geothermal electricity and guarantees a feed-in tariff. Less than 0.4 percent of Germany's total primary energy supply came from geothermal sources in 2004. But after a renewable energy law that introduced a tariff scheme of EU €0.15 [US $0.23] per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for electricity produced from geothermal sources came into effect that year, a construction boom was sparked and the new power plants are now starting to come online. However the first German geothermal power plant had been built in 2003 in Neustadt-Glewe located in northern Germany. This plant was not just the first one operating with the ORC-technology Organic Rankine Cycle

Organic Rankine Cycle

The Organic Rankine cycle is named for its use of an organic, high molecular mass fluid with a liquid-vapor phase change, or boiling point, occurring at a lower temperature than the water-steam phase change. The fluid allows Rankine cycle heat recovery from lower temperature sources such as...

 but also with the lowest temperature.

This first project proved that the generation of electricity from geothermal sources on low temperature levels is possible in Germany. In the same year the TAB (bureau for technological impact assessment of the German Bundestag) concluded that Germany's geothermal resources could be used to supply the entire base load of the country. A conclusion that had been made regarding the fact that geothermal sources have to be developed sustainably because they can cool out if overused.