Herrenknecht Extends Market Range with New Company Herrenknecht VerticalTo make the company ready for the future, Herrenknecht extends its technological and market range. The newly founded Herrenknecht Vertical based in Schwanau, Germany develops, manufactures and sells vertical drilling rigs for geothermal projects. Herrenknecht enters a new and promising market. The new 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. 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 5,000 m. Here, Herrenknecht can rely on its experience gained in mechanised tunnelling.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, the company expects to export the method in this field of geothermal energy, with drillings up to 5,000 m deep.Herrenknecht Vertical starts to begin operations as a small, independent business with nine employees. The staff will be increased to fifteen employees, particularly technicians and highly qualified engineers with experience in the industry, until the end of 2005. Already this year, the first deep drilling rig will be launched to the market. Probably at the end of 2005, a 45 m-high rig approximately will be installed for test drills at the Herrenknecht premises. Visit www.herrenknecht.com 16/05.