SEER drills new geothermal borehole in Essonne, France
The second borehole of SEER is expected to expand the Grigny and Viry-Châtillon geothermal district heating network to accommodate 23,000 additional households.
The Societe d´Exploitation de Energies Renouvelables (SEER) has commenced the drilling of a new geothermal borehole at the commune of Ras-Orangis in Essonne, France. This will be the second borehole for the heating network of the Grigny and Viry-Châtillon municipalities and will supply geothermal heating to an additional 23,000 households.
The first geothermal borehole was completed by the developer SEER in 2016. It was drilled to a depth of 1650 meters and produced water at 71 degrees Celsius and a flowrate of 300 cubic meters per hour. The corresponding geothermal heating network Grigny and Viry Chatillon and the heating plant were inaugurated in 2018.
Since then, the heating network has supplied 23 public buildings and 13,219 homes. In the Grigny 2 condominium, household bills were reduced by around 300% because of the transition to geothermal.
The second borehole will be drilled to a target depth of 2000 meters. If the results are as expected, the new borehole will allow for an expansion of the heating network to include the communes of Fleury-Mérogis, Morsang-sur- Barley, and Sainte-Geneviève-des-Boi. The new district heating network is expected to reach 23 kilometers.
Further expansion planned
SEER President Jean-Marie Vilain said that there are plans for further expansion of the heating network. If the necessary funding is obtained, the network can reach up to 60 kilometers by 2028. This will allow it to cover the municipalities of Morsang-Sur-Orge, Savigny-sur-Orge, as well as the Coteaux de l’Orge district in Viry-Châtillon. This will account for an additional 47,039 households and 109 public buildings.
“This would then make our geothermal network one of the largest in France, even one of the largest in Europe,” remarked Jean-Marie Vilain.
Source: actuEssonne