5,000 homes to be heated by geothermal energy in Renkum, Netherlands
Windmill Concordia in Ede, Netherlands (source: flickr/ Dennis van Zuijlekom, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
10 May 2020
A new geothermal heating plant is planned in the municipality of Renkum in the middle of the Netherlands near Arnhem. The plant will allow around 5,000 homes and a paper company to utilise geothermal energy for heat supply.
A geothermal plant is to be built in Renkum, near Arnhem in the middle of the Netherlands. The planned plant will also be supplying heat to the smart green heat network in Ede, so local publication de Gelderlander.
The plant will enable Warmtebedrijf Ede to take an additional 5,000 homes off from natural gas, so the agreement between Warmtebedrijf Ede and Aardwarmte in de Vallei.
The Ede heat network, to which 20,000 homes and businesses are now connected, was transformed into a smart heat network last year. In addition to heat from the three bioenergy installations, the Ede grid also receives residual heat from companies and solar heat.
A ring runs under the city, a kind of heat roundabout with a total length of around thirty kilometers, with all sources and connections. In the long run, geothermal energy will also be added.
“The intention is that biomass will only be needed in the event of peak winter demand and as a sustainable back-up fuel,” says a spokesman for the Heat Company.
Aardwarmte in de Vallei (Geothermal energy in the Valley) has been looking for locations in Renkum for the extraction of ultra-deep geothermal energy (geothermal energy). Paper factory Smurfit Kappa Parenco in Renkum, one of the participants in the project, has been positive about the generation of geothermal energy for years. The company wants to be more sustainable and produce paper without natural gas. With the help of geothermal energy, the factory can make its steam production fully sustainable.
In order to find out whether the Dutch subsurface is suitable for generating geothermal energy, tests are being carried out in various regions. The Renkums Beekdal is such a research area.
Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN) and TNO conducted research on both the Wageningen and Renkumse sides of the area, funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate.
In the Seismic Campaign for Geothermal Energy Netherlands research program, a small charge of explosive material is detonated to generate sound waves. This sound collides with strata and bounces back to the surface, where microphones capture it.
The research in the Renkum area has now been completed. “We expect the results after the summer,” says Elita Cordova of SCAN.
Both the municipalities of Wageningen and Renkum previously indicated that they would like to connect to the power station in Renkum. Heat company Ede is now also doing this. Geothermal energy from the regional heat network will eventually be imported into the Edese heat network.
Last year it was announced that Warmtebedrijf Ede itself has also applied for a permit to drill for geothermal energy. Under and around Ede, the company has found suitable waterbeds at a depth of 2.5 kilometers.
“Realization of the geothermal project in both Ede and Renkum will take at least a few more years, but work is underway,” says a spokesperson for Warmtebedrijf Ede. “We are proud of the cooperation with Geothermal Energy in the Valley.”
Source: de Gelderlander
