The energy company ČEZ wants to use heat from the depths of the Earth to generate energy. It is planning its first geothermal plant, most likely to be built in Liberec. The company called a tender this week for exploratory drilling worth about a quarter of a billion crowns.
“This is a pilot project, through which we want to explore the possibilities of geothermal energy and of its suppliers. We are not planning any other plants,” said ČEZ spokesman Ladislav Kříž. According to him, the company is still analysing the construction of the geothermal plant in Liberec. The exploratory drilling could begin in the second half of this year.
This was also confirmed by Liberec Deputy Mayor Ivo Palouš. “This source would be mainly used for the production of electricity. Heat will come from a different plant, a heating plant that uses biofuel,” he said. The city, Palouš said, already bought property in a suitable location. The entire power plant project is expected to cost CZK 1.2 billion. The exploratory drilling will determine just how effective this new source, which will draw heat from 5 km underground, could be.
According to information available to E15, ČEZ was interested last year in a geothermal plant project in Litoměřice. But the deal fell apart over the unwillingness of local representatives to let ČEZ be the majority owner of the new plant. Liberec does not have a problem with letting ČEZ be the majority shareholder. “The city will provide the property and the experience. ČEZ will provide the investment,” said Palouš. The investor will gain a source of energy with next to zero operational costs that, according to some estimates, could last for 20 to 40 years.
Liberec, Litoměřice and seven other municipalities are planning exploratory drilling to analyse the potential of geothermal energy. The projects are on hold, however, because of insufficient finances.
Litoměřice plant project halted
The construction of the first geothermal power plant in Litoměřice ended with exploratory drilling. The city is now looking for about CZK 1 billion, so that the project can resume. The drilling in three locations down to a depth of 5 km could in the best case begin by the end of this year.
“Right now we are preparing the materials to apply for subsidies from the Operational Programme Environment fund. It is more complicated than we thought,” said Pavel Gryndler, head of the Litoměřice environment department, who is responsible for the project. The city would like to get at least CZK 100 million through EU funds. The rest of the money would come from a credit loan. “We will discuss this at our meeting in June. The final amount will depend on how much we can get in subsidies,” he added.
The town expects the total costs of building a geothermal power plant and heating plant to reach CZK 1.1 billion. The plant could be finished by 2010, or by 2013 at the latest. It would generate approximately 50 megawatts of heat energy and about 5 megawatts of electricity. The plant should be able to heat three-quarters of the town.
Besides Litoměřice and Liberec, towns including Pardubice, Dobruška, Rumburk, Český Krumlov and Heřmanův Městec are also interested in geothermal energy, which is a steady, inexpensive energy source. Úvaly u Prahy, Nová Paka, Nové Město pod Smrkem, Opočno and Semily are planning exploratory drilling. But all of these projects are on hold because of insufficient capital.
Geothermal power plants use heat from the depths of the Earth, which can generate 40,000 gigawatts of energy (the equivalent of 20,000 Temelíns). The total output of geothermal power plants around the world is estimated at 8,000 megawatts, in other words, four Temelíns. That is not a lot. Geothermal plants are mostly built in those parts of the world where there is some volcanic activity. In Europe this is mainly Iceland and, to a smaller degree, also Italy. There are predictions, however, that between 2030 and 2050, geothermal power plants could have an output comparable to that of nuclear power plants today.
The Czech Republic so far has one geothermal heating plant in Děčín, which uses the water of lake that is located 550 metres underground. Litoměřice is the first town to be doing exploratory drilling, but experts have already identified 60 other locations that could be suitable for generating electricity this way, that could generate electricity totalling 250 megawatts and heat totalling around 2,000 megawatts.
Experts predict that in the future the Czech Republic could have geothermal power plants with a total output of 3,200 megawatts.
Five km underground
The principle of geothermal heating plants is quite simple. It entails using heat that is conserved underground dry rocks. Cold water is pumped through one drill hole into hot rock at a depth of 5 km. There it is heat to 150 degrees Celsius. It then goes up through two side drill holes, located at about a 600 metre distance from the main drill hole, in the form of vapour. The vapour heats water in a storage facility which then in a closed circulation system goes back underground, where it is heated to the required temperature. There is one obstacle, however. At the 5 km underground, it is necessary to have a horizontal connection of the drill holes. That of, course, is impossible to drill. Water needs to find its own way through cracks in the rock, and it does not always work out.
