23 May 2014

Geothermal District Heating has the potential to alleviate Europe’s energy security crisis

Over 25% of the EU population lives in areas directly suitable for Geothermal District Heating (GeoDH) . There is a large potential in Central and Eastern Europe, with GeoDH systems in operation in 22 European countries including Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and Romania, where existing heat networks are well developed.

Geothermal district heating is a valuable and immediate option for the alleviation of Central and Eastern Europe’s dependency on Russian gas.

Geothermal generation has its roots in Europe.  In the EU, 180 geothermal district heating systems have a total installed capacity of 1.1 GWth, producing some 4256 GWh of thermal power, (i.e. 366 ktoe in 2012).

Read more about Geothermal District Heating in the GeoDH press release here.

The GeoDH project, co-funded by the EU, is working juvenile, transition, and mature markets in order to understand both market needs and best practices, and develop tools which can help Geothermal District Heating to develop everywhere. Key areas of work are regulatory frameworks, financial models, training, and awareness raising. Find out more at www.geodh.eu.