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The Hague in the Netherlands committed to geothermal with big ambitions

The Hague in the Netherlands committed to geothermal with big ambitions View over The Hague, Netherlands (source: flickr/ Herman Beun, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 2 Oct 2020

Being committed to geothermal development for heating purposes, the city of The Hague in the Netherlands thinks it has good potential for becoming a center of the geothermal world not only in the Netherlands but also beyond.

Geothermal energy is become very large in the Netherlands and the city of The Hague wants to be the center of that development, as reported by Duurzam Bedrijfsleven in the Netherlands

The region of The Hague is fully committed to geothermal energy. With a new research center in Rijswijk, the largest geothermal project in the city and the geothermal-heated greenhouses in Westland nearby, The Hague thinks it has good potential for becoming the center of the geothermal world. The presence of an international research center would be the icing on the cake.

Yesterday, the municipality of The Hague announced its ambitions. The city can become a center for the development of geothermal technologies, which can play an important role in a sustainable future. At the end of this year, 1,300 homes around the Leiweg will receive geothermal energy from a well in the middle of the city for the first time. Ultimately, that will be at least 2,500 homes, with room to supply geothermal energy to even 4,000 homes.

There is also an ambition to heat the suburb of Ypenburg with geothermal energy. The Westland, which grows vegetables in greenhouse horticulture near The Hague, has been using geothermal energy successfully for years. And with the arrival of a new high-tech research center in Rijswijk, there are a lot of projects in and around The Hague that use geothermal energy.

With geothermal energy, cold water is injected into the ground and the warm weather comes up. There are many places in the Netherlands where technology can offer a solution. The water is 70 to 90 degrees, enough to heat houses. According to estimates, more than 20 percent of the heat demand in the Netherlands can be met with geothermal energy.

Fossil companies play an important role

There are still a lot of hurdles to overcome before we can apply geothermal energy on a massive scale, and The Hague wants to play a key role in this. Oil companies such as Shell (headquartered in the Hofstad) can also help. “These companies have a lot of experience with drilling and knowledge about the subsurface, which is also useful for geothermal energy,” says Philip Mulder, new energy advisor at The Hague Business Agency. “Moreover, these companies have the capital and capacity needed to make new, cleaner technologies big. Without the energy companies, we really will not make it in the energy transition. ”

The Hague also hopes to bring the International Geothermal Agency to the city. “That is a knowledge center that can help us to develop the technology. Perhaps we will eventually learn so much that we can also export that knowledge to other cities in the Netherlands and abroad, ”says Mulder. The Hague is not the only city that focuses on this technology, there are many cities that are looking at the possibilities of geothermal energy to heat a heat network.

Not suitable for industry

Incidentally, geothermal energy is especially useful for heating houses. If natural gas is no longer allowed to be used, houses will have to get their heat from somewhere else. This is possible with electricity (via a heat pump), but that is often expensive and not always possible. A heat network with geothermal or residual heat can then offer a solution. Geothermal energy is less suitable for heavy industry; the water that comes from a well is usually not hot enough for industrial processes.

Source: Duurzaam Bedrijfsleven