Italian-lead research project to demonstrate use of low enthalpy geothermal in Emirates
Italian company working on project to utilise geothermal energy for cooling in the United Arab Emirates based on research in Italy as part of the GeoGrid project.
The “Geogrid” research project looking at utilising low and medium enthalpy geothermal energy will soon be taken to the United Arab Emirates. This is what emerged from a “Futuro Remoto”during an event dedicated to the development potential of the Made in Campana project in other continents. You can find further details on the GeoGrid project here.
The occasion was a round table remotely organized by the Department of Engineering of the University of Naples “Parthenope”, with the participation of the University of Sannio, Studio Cavuoto, Graded, a Neapolitan company in the energy sector led by Vito Grassi, and the moderation of the scientific director of Geogrid, professor Nicola Massarotti (Parthenope).
Davide Capuano, Graded R&D Specialist, illustrated the opportunities in the Arab Emirates for the experimentation and development of energy obtained from the heat of the earth. “The project aroused a lot of interest during the presentation at the WETEX Fair in October 2019 and will be the subject of experimentation in Dubai with the participation of local universities. The first tests are imminent ”, announces Capuano.
The geographical position and optimal climatic conditions for this energy source favour the Emirates as a possible outlet market: the temperature, constant during the night and day, suggests, in fact, the opportunity to increase the efficiency of the cooling system traditional replacing it with geothermal probes.
“The use of geothermal energy – explains Capuano – makes it possible to have a thermal ‘tank’ at a constant temperature throughout the year at no cost. The system shows the greatest energy and economic advantages in hot climates where the cooling demand is high and the outside air has a very high temperature which considerably reduces the efficiency value ”.
The next steps of the project are the commercial development of the system already engineered and tested on site, adapting the solution according to the users, as well as future tests on different sites (universities, buildings, metropolitan construction sites). The system shows the greatest energy and economic advantages in hot climates where the cooling demand is high and the outside air has a very high temperature which considerably reduces the efficiency value ”.
The project
Geogrid is a scientifically led project that involves the leading experts in the sector in Campania: the Institute of Volcanology-INGV, the National Research Council-CNR, 4 universities (Parthenope, Federico II, University of Sannio, University of Campania), a Regional Energy District, Smart Power System, and among the companies implementing the project, recognized local realities with proven experience in the sector, of which Graded leader.
The project launched in 2015 was divided into three lines of research and included, among other things, the construction of a “demonstrator” in the subway yards of Piazza Municipio in Naples, with the positioning of ten geothermal probes distributed between two tunnels and connected to an Energy Box, and the design of an experimental plant with an electrical power of 4 kW and 40 thermal kW in the Campi Flegrei, aimed at demonstrating for the first time that in Campania the production of electricity from geothermal sources is also possible with absolutely sustainable techniques with virtually no impact.
Source: Ilsudonline