As reported by Bloomberg, “CEZ AS, central Europe’s biggest power company, plans to build its first geothermal plant to harness heat found deep underneath the earth’s surface.

The Czech company put a 250 million koruna ($11.3 million) contract for preliminary drilling out to bid this week, spokesman Martin Schreier said by phone today from Prague. In the second half of the year CEZ may begin (drilling) to reach steam deposits hot enough to power generators for the plant to be located in the country’s north, he said.

“This is a pilot project and we’re curious ourselves how many companies will be interested in a tender,” Schreier said. The geothermal plant will cost about 1 billion koruna (US$ 46 million) in total and produce less than 10 megawatts of power, CEZ estimates. Liberec, the nation’s sixth-biggest city, will bear part of cost and receive the electricity produced, Schreier said. CEZ is not investing in any other geothermal projects at the moment, he said.”

Source: Bloomberg.com