Geothermal district heating project announced in Zugló district, Budapest, Hungary
Opening ceremony of Zugló Geothermal District Heating Project in Budapest, Hungary (source: Gergely Karácsony via Facebook)
Carlo Cariaga
19 May 2025
The heating network of the Zugló district in Budapest, Hungary will soon be supplied by geothermal, through a project supported by the Swiss Fund.
An opening ceremony was recently held for the Zugló Geothermal District Heating project in Budapest, Hungary. The goal of the project is to expand the capacity of an existing geothermal well to supply the Zugló district heating network, providing 31,898 GJ of heat per year. The project is expected to be operational by May 2027.
The cost of the project is expected to be around HUF 805 million (approx. EUR 2 million). It is being co-financed by the Hungarian government and the Budapest Public Utilities (Budapesti Közmuvek), which is investing funds from the Swiss Fund. As the Swiss Ambassador to Budapest, Jean-Francois Paroz explained, the “Geothermal Energy Sources for District and Urban Heating” program was launched at the end of last year as part of the Swiss-Hungarian cooperation program.
The funding will go towards expanding the capacity of an existing geothermal well of the Budapest Public Transport Company (BKV Zrt.) located in Fehér Street. a 480-meter pipeline will be built to connect the well to the Budapest Public Utilities District Heating Division. The drilling of this well was reported back in 2018. The heat will then be supplied to the public users of the district heating network in Zugló.
During the opening ceremony, Mayor Gergely Karácsony emphasized that Budapest remains afflicted by outdated heating technologies. However, the city is blessed with a large reservoir of geothermal energy which the local governments aims to use for district heating in the coming years. This way, Budapest can break away from energy dependencies and a heat supply that is unsustainable in the long term, whether in the context of climate or energy security.
Source: Budapester.hu, Budapesti Közmuvek via Youtube, and Karácsony Gergely via Facebook
