Geothermal key aspect for Croatian city to become climate-neutral
The City of Karlovac in Croatia is preparing a project to use geothermal water to apply for tenders under the European Green Plan to implement the plan of a climate-neutral city.
Karlovac is one of the local governments in Croatia that recognized in time the opportunities and opportunities that renewable energy sources offer for the development of the local community and, after the project of using geothermal sources in its area, went a step further and decided to invest in construction photovoltaic power plants on the roofs of public buildings, so a recent article in local media.
The Geotermi KA project mentioned by the mayor is the project for the development of the exploratory geothermal well Karlovac-1 GT by which the City intends to exploit proven geothermal water deposits in its area. Namely, in the area of ??the city there is a confirmed geothermal aquifer in the carbonate complex Recica discovered by exploration wells Ka-2 and Ka-3 which were drilled in 1983 and 1988, with water temperatures up to 120 degrees Celsius. The City of Karlovac is preparing a project to use geothermal water to apply for tenders under the European Green Plan 2050 in order to achieve the climate-neutral city plan, which will improve the health and quality of life of Karlovac and its surroundings, but also protect natural resources. PREP 4Ka GT -1 ”at the invitation of Increasing the capacity for geothermal energy production of the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area for the period 2014-2021.
The preparation of the project is well underway, and the director of the city company Geotermi KA, Vlatko Kovacevic told us that in 2020 the existing 2D seismic profiles were analyzed and interpreted in order to determine the exact location of the exploration well, in 2021 the Preliminary Mining project for the construction of a well and continued to collect the necessary documentation, and at the beginning of this year the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development approved the Preliminary design for the exploration well of geothermal water Karlovac GT -1. At the moment, work is being done on the preparation of project technical documentation as a basis for issuing location permits, and the total costs of preparing project documentation and drilling the production well Ka GT-1 to a depth of about 2500 meters and injection wells Ka GT -2 amount to about 49.7 million kuna.
By using geothermal sources in the city, Karlovac City Administration wants to achieve a high degree of energy self-sufficiency, but also self-sufficiency in food production, encourage stronger growth of economic activities and contribute to the development of the city as a sports and tourist center. “Although the whole story with geothermal energy is primarily important due to the use of thermal energy for heating, ie for the needs of the city heating plant and electricity production, the City of Karlovac sees countless other possibilities for using thermal energy residues from geothermal sources in later stages of development. We plan to use the remaining geothermal water to heat the sports and recreation complex and swimming pool, which has high energy requirements.
Add to this the expected incentives that the project will bring to the development of the local economy through the involvement of local companies in the project, creating conditions for the development of other economic projects in tourism, agriculture and industrial production in local and regional areas and creating new jobs. growth of the city, there is no doubt that the project of development of geothermal sources, as well as the new project of photovoltaic power plants in kindergartens and schools, will generate multiple economic benefits for the Karlovac local community, but also for society as a whole.
Source: Nacional.hr