Geothermal heating plant in Konin, Poland targets operation in current heating season
Pending several legal and environmental decisions, the geothermal heating plant in Konin, Poland aims to start operations by April 2025.
Heating supply from the newly built geothermal heating plant in Konin, Poland has been stalled by several legal proceedings. However, the President of MPEC Konin, the municipal heating company operating the plant, is optimistic that the plant can start operations by April 2025, just before the end of the current heating season.
In October 2024, MPEC Konin announced the completion of construction of the 8.1-MWth geothermal heating plant in Konin. The construction was supported by funding from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFOSiGW). Of the PLN 67 million total investment for the project, PLN 26 million in funding and another loan of PLN 18 million came from the NFOSiGW. The local government then contributed PLN 4 million. The rest of the money from MPEC Konin.
To start with the operations of the heating plant, the heating company is still waiting on two documents – the environmental decision for exploitation of the geothermal resource from the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Poznan, as well as the concession for heat generation from the Energy Regulatory Office.
MPEC Konin had also submitted documents for the procedures for new heat tariffs, although the above-mentioned decisions will still be needed to supplement the application. In any case, the share of the new geothermal heating plant is not expected to have a new impact on the tariffs. Geothermal will account for only 5-10% of the heat supply in Konin, with the rest coming from biomass and waste incineration.
The company president states that some of the documents can only be completed once construction has finished. “This is an administrative procedure lasting several months, conditioned by certain deadlines. We are trying to work on certain documents in parallel, but we will not change the procedure. We really want this heating plant to produce heat already, because it is ready to operate,” said Slawomir Lorek.
Source: Lokalne Media
