Project in Hungary shows potential of geothermal energy

In the city of Szeged, with a population of more than 160,000 inhabitants, the municipality decided to take advantage of the heated groundwater, whose depth is 2000 meters, and start the largest thermal heating system in Europe, with the exception of Iceland.

At the end of the works in 2023, the city, located two hours from Budapest, will have 27 underground pumping devices, 16 power stations and 250 kilometers of pipes that will supply electricity to 27,000 apartments and 400 non-residential customers.

Its construction, which began before tensions between the European Union and Russia, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent, but has now become an alternative, when the West imposed sanctions on Russian energy supplies.

“Since the 1980s, we’ve burned millions of cubic meters of imported Russian gas” to power our homes and “released tons of carbon,” explained geologist Tamas Medjes.

“Geothermal energy is local, accessible and renewable, so why not use it?” he asked.

He warned that the project, funded in part with European money, has more than 50 million euros ($51 million), but that “the burning of fossils has a cost to future generations and the environment.”

The expert involved in the operation commented that 12 communes are already using this energy and that others will do so soon, given the high prices.

But he added that the project could interest some cities in France, Germany, Italy and Slovakia that have important geothermal deposits.

Although Hungary has 260 thermal plants, this resource is underutilized for energy purposes: only 1.5 percent of its heating needs come from geothermal energy, a figure that can be as high as 25 percent.

JCM / Att