Electrocentrale Bucharest, Otopeni Airport, Therme Bucharest, Ana Aslan Institute and several investors in real estate projects are all interested in the huge thermal water deposit located in the northern part of the capital.

Ilfov County has an important resource that can be used for the development of innovative heat energy distribution systems. It concerns geothermal resources in the Otopeni reservoir, with an area of ​​more than 300 square kilometers, the largest such deposit in Romania, as shown in the document “County Development Strategy – Horizon 2030”.

These resources were also used until 1990 to power the centralized system in the town of Otopeni, and there was a thermal beach behind the Press House.

The system could be restarted with modern technologies, which could overcome some of the barriers encountered in the past (heaviness of wells, salt deposits on steel pipes, difficulties in operating thermal points or thermal discomfort for consumers, given the fact , that geothermal water can provide heating for buildings only at an outside temperature above -5 °C), the mentioned document further states.

Currently, only two major projects have been implemented in this area since the revolution.

It is about the transition of the heating system of the Emergency Clinical Hospital of the Agrippa Ionescu Research Institute in the municipality of Baloteşti from gas to a system based on geothermal energy, which costs 9.8 million lei, a project financed mainly from European funds.

Everything became possible after the restoration of the well in Baloteşt, to which was added the installation of a geothermal pump, the construction of a geothermal station, as well as a reservoir of 500 cubic meters. In addition to heating, the geothermal water system at SRI Hospital is also used for medical purposes, for therapeutic recovery. The use of this type of energy offers a number of advantages, such as environmental protection, as well as a significantly lower production cost than using traditional sources.

Also in the area, the Austrian company A-Heat has built Therme, one of the largest health spa complexes in Europe, and plans to invest tens of millions more euros to significantly expand the complex in the coming years.

In 2020, Compania Națională Aeroporturi Bucharest announced that it wanted to use geothermal potential to power its heating system. But on the land where two wells had already been drilled, a four-story parking lot was built, which was unsuccessfully contested by the airport.

However, this land is not the only bone of contention in the energy and real estate area near the airport. The private successor to the former state-owned company Foradex, which did the first geothermal drilling in the area in the 80s, has sued both CNAB and the parking lot developer, claiming that he owns both wells, Profit.ro reports.

Heating residents of Ilfov and resort tourism

Ilfov County has great potential for the development of geothermal energy production facilities using existing natural resources: the Otopeni thermal water reservoir, the temperature of which ranges from 58°C in the Baneasa area to 95°C in the area of ​​Gruju and Snagov communes. .

The reduction in the operation of this reservoir is caused by the corrosive nature of the water (high concentration of sulfuric acid). However, the projects currently underway are promising, and if the authority succeeds in protecting the existing wells (which currently have an uncertain status and limited protection perimeters), there is potential to develop larger energy production systems, the county strategy added. .

In recent years, discussions about geothermal waters have slowed down. There are no investments in this resource at the level of Ilfov county. This is despite the fact that the Ilfov County Development Strategy, which dates back to before the pandemic, includes two important projects.

The first concerns the use of geothermal resources in Ilfov County for heating houses. The project will cost approximately EUR 100 million and approximately 8,000 apartments and households in Otopeni, Baloteşti, Moara Vlas, Snagov and Gruy will benefit. As a result of this project, consumption of thermal energy from traditional sources will be reduced by 75%, and consumers’ costs for thermal energy will be reduced by 40%.

Another goal is to capitalize on geothermal resources for the development of the resort tourism sector. The budget of this project should amount to 53 million euros and is aimed at expanding and modernizing the facilities of the Ana Aslan Institute of Geriatrics through the development of spa-tourism facilities and the use of existing geothermal resources. Thus, the Institute would have accommodation and treatment for 100 places and would create at least 50 jobs, according to the Panorama article.

And part of the capital’s residents could be heated by geothermal energy

The head of Electrocentrale Bucharest, Claudio Kretsu, says that geothermal resources can also be used to heat residents of the capital.

“This does not mean that we dream that after a year Bucharest will be heated by geothermal energy, especially since the temperature under Bucharest is not very high, we are not talking about 100 degrees, but about 40-50-60 degrees. But geothermal energy can be a very useful source of energy, especially in the summer when losses are high,” says Chief Elsen.

In the next period, the company will conduct technical studies to see the profitability of such investments and possible partnerships with companies in the industry.

Advantages? Less gas consumption, decarbonization, green energy, lower price per gigacalorie for Bucharest residents.

He clarified that although the northern region of the capital seems richer, geothermal water resources will be in the entire basement of the capital, and new power plants can be built right on the site of the current CHPs.

In addition, the northern part of the capital is more deficient in terms of central heating, since all CHPs are located south of the city.

“There are large European cities that today use thermal energy from waste, from biomass, from heat pumps that store energy. We do not invent hot water. What we can do is to adapt existing, certified solutions to avoid these “green horses on the walls”. There are no green horses on the walls, there are solutions that work today in Copenhagen, Vienna, Berlin or Munich,” Kretsu said.