Geotermia Podhalanska in Podhale, Poland to expand geothermal heating capacity by 16 MW
Geothermal well at Zakopane, Poland (Source: Geotermia Podhalanska)
Alexander Richter
22 Jul 2020
Geothermal heating operator Geotermia Podhalanska in Poland is investing into an upgrade of its existing geothermal heating infrastructure hoping to expand its capacity by 16 MW.
Reported locally in early July, geothermal heating operator Geotermia Podhalanska has announced it will increase its capacity by 16 MW following the signing of a new contract.
The contract for granting subsidies in the form of a grant and a loan for the execution of a new reinjection well and the reconstruction of the existing well was signed in early July 2020 in Banska Nizna by the president of Geotermia Podhalanska with the deputy president of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management.
The total cost of the project is PLN 42.8 million (EUR 10 million). Co-financing in the form of a subsidy amounts to PLN 13.9 million, which is for 40 percent eligible expenses. The remaining 60 percent, expenditure in the amount of PLN 20.8 million will be financed in the form of a loan granted by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management on preferential terms.
Currently, there are two reinjection wells to inject geothermal water back underground. The new GP5 borehole at a depth of approx. 3,500 meters, into which water will be injected into the geothermal source, will be built in Bialy Dunajec, approx. 2 km from the production well. The president of Geotermia Podhalanska, Wojciech Ignacok, explained that the drilling for reinjection wells ends the circulation of geothermal water used to heat houses or hotel facilities in Podhale, which is reheated. Only the water extracted for the needs of aquaparks is not pumped back due to pollution. As part of the investment, the PGP2 reinjection borehole, whose technical condition is not good, will also be reconstructed. Reconstruction of the borehole will save several megawatts of geothermal heat annually and will increase energy security – assessed the president of Geotermia Podhalanska.
“We will also carry out an investment related to the installation of further exchangers on the geothermal system. We will thus increase the geothermal heat output by 16 MW, so Ignacok.
Przedsiebiorstwo Energetyki Cieplnej Geotermia Podhalanska SA has been operating on the market for over 26 years and is the oldest and largest producer of geothermal energy in Poland. Nearly 1,700 objects are connected to the heating network supplied from a geothermal source. The length of the heating network is 115 km – in Zakopane, Szaflary, Bialy Dunajec and Poronin. The average temperature of the geothermal water extracted from the wells in Podhale is 86 degrees Celsius.
Source: Teraz Srodowisko
