Great geothermal potential and prospects in Slovakia
Kosice, Slovakia (source: flickr/ Jordi Masagué, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
17 May 2013
The geothermal potential of Slovakia is seen at 6,200 MW, which - so we assume - must include heating and power generation.
Following an earlier article on geothermal potential and activities in the Czech Republic, there are even better conditions for the use of geothermal energy in neighboring Slovakia.
According to the journal Energo the potential between the Danube and the Tatra Mountains is about 6,200 MW.
In Slovakia, about 25 areas seen as economically feasible sites for geothermal development, mostly in the southeast and southwest of the country.
In the 1970s there has been some intensive drilling but no real development happened or power plant was built. At the same time though, a few buildings were connected with geothermal heating in the process.
Slovakia has introduced feed-in-tariffs for renewable energy and the tariffs for geothermal are EUR 0.19057 / kWh ($0.258), which is much more than solar (EUR0.119/ kWh), wind (EUR 0.079 or biomass (up to EUR 0.154/ kWh) receive.
The regulatory authority for the feed-in-tariffs are URSO (http://www.urso.gov.sk).
Despite the retroactive tax on income from renewable energy sources in the Czech Republic, there is an expectation that the feed-in tariffs in Slovakia will remain largely stable in the coming years. currently.
The government in Bratislava has already given the green light for two plants with a combined capacity of 9 MW. This includes a project planned by Slovak gas utility SPP in Durkov east of Kosice. There, the approval process for a pilot project should be nearing completion. Overall, the geothermal energy has a potential of 100 MW in the region Olsovany-Durkov-Bidovce. The expected temperature in a depth of 2,000 to 3,000 m depth are about 125 degrees Celsius.
Source: Tschechien Online (in German)
