Geothermal heat supply starts at Geothermie Delft project in the Netherlands
The heat pump center of Geothermie Delft in Delft, Netherlands (source: Geothermie Delft)
Carlo Cariaga
2 Mar 2026
The Geothermie Delft facility in Delft, Netherlands has started supplying geothermal heat to a part of the TU Delft campus and student housing units.
The geothermal heating plant of Geothermie Delft in Delft, Netherlands has been officially opened, with geothermal heat now being supplied to part of the TU Delft campus as well as student housing centers in Mijnbouwplein, Stieltjesweg, and Michiel de Ruyterweg. The system utilizes 78 °C thermal water from a depth of about 2000 meters.
The geothermal project in Delft had started planning more than a decade ago, initially proposed by Stichting DAP, a student and industry organization under TU Delft. In 2018, the board of TU Delft made a decision-in-principle to support the geothermal project with the drilling of a research well. Drilling of the geothermal doublet commenced in mid-2023 and was completed by the end of the same year.
Geothermie Delft is a joint project between TU Delft, Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN), and Gaia Energy (via acquisition of Aardyn). Aside from supplying heating to the buildings of TU Delft and nearby residential facilities, the project will also serve as a research facility to gather data and generate more accurate simulations on geothermal systems. This will help reduce project risks for future geothermal ventures.
The construction of the heat pump center for the project received financial support in mid-2025 through a €50 million financing agreement with Rabobank and the Nederlandse Waterschapsbank (NWB Bank). Ivan Das of Rabobank lauded the project team for pushing through with the project for more than a decade, saying “In practice, we unfortunately see many promising concepts fail after years of preparation. The fact that it succeeded in Delft is due to a combination of perseverance and excellent stakeholder management.”
“For NWB Bank, this is the first geothermal energy source we’ve financed, and as far as we’re concerned, it certainly won’t be the last. Making homes natural gas-free is a huge challenge, and geothermal energy will certainly play a significant role as a sustainable source,” added Peter Borghstijn of NWB.
Although there is little activity ongoing now at the heat pump center, excavation work is still ongoing at Buitenhof, just a few neighborhoods away. This work will expand the geothermal heat supply from TU Delft, expanding the current user base by 6000 rental properties, to a total of 15,000.
As the Delft Subsurface Urban Energy Laboratory (DSUEL), the facility is also a unique showcase for research into the safe and responsible scaling up of geothermal energy utilization. Research questions such as long-term reservoir performance and testing of materials will be evaluated at the site. The aim would be to develop technical solutions to issues that are currently limiting the use of geothermal systems in the Netherlands, particularly in urban environments.
Source: TU Delft and Geothermie Delft
