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Solar PV to power pumps for geothermal heating plant in Romania

Solar PV to power pumps for geothermal heating plant in Romania Oradea city hall, Romania (source: flickr/ Jerzy Kociatkiewicz, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 4 Sep 2021

The Romanian city of Oradea has secured funding to set up solar PV park to provide electricity for a geothermal plant under construction.

Yesterday, the Romanian city of Oradea announced that they are taking the next step in implementing new green infrastructure. The city will build a photovoltaic car park that will power 80% of the consumption needs of the nearby geothermal plant, so The Mayor.

The project is partially funded by Norway as part of  a wider Energy Program for Romania aiming to increase renewable energy expansion in  the country. At the same time, the program aims to stimulate and develop business relationships and long-term collaboration between Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Romania, encouraging bilateral partnerships and development projects. We reported on the geothermal project before.

The project will see the  set up of 1,500 solar modules on roofs over a car park. The electricity generated from the panels will be used for the electricity need of a local geothermal heating plant currently under construction. The plant requires a total of 1.1 MW to operate, meaning that the solar car park will greatly reduce the costs of running it. The solar car park will save the geothermal plant up  to 80% in energy consumption.

Local authorities in Oradea are supposed to submit the project by 7 September at the latest. After access to the funds is secured, the design and construction will start with the end date for the project set in 2022.

The city features,  Romania’s only geothermal power generation unit, a 50 kW pilot plant set up in 2012.

Source: The Mayor