CAN BELGRADE HEATING PLANTS SWITCH TO GEOTHERMAL ENERGY SOURCES?

29. Dec 2022
Photo: Pexels, Cristian Salinas

Geothermal energy is an important resource for the production of electricity and heat that is available in many yards, even under the houses themselves. It does not pollute the environment, and it can provide enough energy and reduce dependence on energy imports. All this is particularly important because Serbia ranks among the top three countries in Europe in terms of geothermal energy sources.

According to Dejan Milenić, professor at the Faculty of Mining and Geology in Belgrade, geothermal energy will replace dirty, almost exhausted fossil fuels in the near future.

Apart from the fact that geothermal energy is clean, safe for the environment, and does not create emissions of harmful gases, and that there are large reserves available, the power plants that use it occupy a small space, unlike hydroelectric power plants.

"Also, this type of renewable energy is reliable because, unlike wind farms and solar farms, it does not depend on meteorological or hourly conditions. Geothermal power plants have very low production costs, while bills for consumers are minimal," said Professor Milenić in an interview with Biznis.rs.

Approximately 5,000 buildings in Serbia currently use geothermal energy for heating, more than 1,000 of which are in Belgrade.

"Out of those 5,000 facilities, even 80 percent use heat pumps that raise the temperature of water from the geoenvironment because the wells are shallow (up to 100 or 200 meters) and the water temperature is up to 30 degrees. Heat pumps can reach temperatures of up to 50 or 60 degrees. Only 20 percent of buildings are heated directly with geothermal energy, because the wells are deeper and the water temperature reaches more than 30 degrees," Milenić explained to Biznis.rs.

According to research by the Faculty of Mining and Geology, New Belgrade has a particularly high potential for heating buildings using hydrogeothermal energy, which is located only 30 to 40 meters underground in this part of the city. In winter, due to the heat island effect, the underground water temperature reaches between 15 and 17 degrees.

According to him, the project to heat the future bus station in New Belgrade with geothermal energy has been completed. The Hotel Hilton, West 65, Ikea, several kindergartens in New Belgrade, and residential areas near Airport City are some of the facilities that use hot water for heating.

The preliminary results of the investigation of geothermal resources at the location of the SIV 3 buildings and the Palace of Serbia, conducted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), confirmed that these facilities have the potential for the application of geothermal energy. This is the beginning of the implementation of the multi-year program "Energy efficiency in central government buildings" worth 40 million euros, which includes 28 buildings.

Belgrade Power Plants recently announced a tender to carry out a detailed investigation of geothermal potential up to 5,000 meters, i.e., temperatures up to 150 degrees, at 18 heating plants in Belgrade.

"The Faculty of Mining and Geology won the tender that will investigate whether a geothermal resource could be installed in district heating systems in Belgrade. This study will be finished at the end of February, and if the results are good, we can expect the first drilling in Belgrade already next year," revealed Milenić.

He added that other municipalities and cities in Serbia are also interested in using geothermal energy, including Pančevo, the entire South Banat, Bečej and the heating plant in Niš.

Milenić emphasized that there are millions of abandoned oil wells in the world that can be examined and used for the production of geothermal energy, which many countries have already turned to due to the current energy crisis.

"It is very important for Serbia not to get into chaos and uncontrolled use of geothermal energy. Every system must have a permit, and every exploitation of underground water or a geoprobe must get permission for exploitation, which is currently done by the Ministry of Mining and Energy. It is imperative because development must be sustainable," Milenić concluded.

Three years ago, the municipality of Bogatić replaced dirty fuel oil and coal boilers with geothermal energy in a dozen public institutions. It is planned to heat the households of the municipality in this way. In addition to a cleaner environment, the municipality also saved money.

"Before switching to this heating system, Bogatić spent approximately 160,000 euros per year on heating public buildings, but only 3,000 euros last year. This system pays for itself in five to six years," explained Milenić, who was also the author of this project.

Source: Biznis.rs

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