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Description
The project „Mapping of the shallow geothermal systems in the Republic of Croatia” (PLIGES) plans to conduct the first comprehensive overview of the installed shallow geothermal systems in Croatia. Currently, there is no systemwide monitoring or control of the use of heat pumps used to harness the shallow geothermal energy potential. Therefore, it is difficult to give estimation on the total installed capacity as well as energy utilization from shallow geothermal resources.
The interdisciplinary project team consists of experts from two different scientific-educational institutions (The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture - FSB and The Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering - RGNF) as well as the design and oversight company of such systems (TT Inženjering). The team plans to gather data regarding the existing shallow geothermal systems as part of the project activities and to create an interactive GIS map, thus allowing for the estimation of shallow geothermal energy utilization. Also, the project’s expected outcome is the increase of the knowledge of existing systems as well as to give an estimation of the shallow geothermal potential in Croatia. It is expected that the publicly available developed tools, as well as the activities regarding the information access and visibility, will significantly contribute to the recognition of the technology, build the capacity for its application, and help all the interested parties involved in planning, design and investing, to increase the share of shallow geothermal energy in renewable resource use.
Summary of project results
Before project PLIGES, in the Republic of Croatia, there was no systematic monitoring of heating and cooling systems that use renewable shallow geothermal energy as an energy source. The PLIGES project aimed to solve frequently asked questions related to the existing various technological solutions for exploiting shallow geothermal energy in the Republic of Croatia, thermogeological and technical conditions in which the systems were implemented, the number of different systems implemented, etc. This is important in order to increase the share of technologies with lower carbon emissions by using shallow geothermal systems through heat pumps and to increase the security of energy supply. The project achieved the above through a comprehensive review of installed shallow geothermal energy systems in Croatia with the following achieved goals:
- establishing a base of derived systems of shallow geothermal energy and a system of its replenishment,
- an estimate of energy consumption from installed systems of shallow geothermal energy and CO2 savings,
- an interactive GIS map was created for viewing and visualizing data,
- increased knowledge about exploiting the potential of shallow geothermal energy in Croatia.
By achieving above mentioned goals, the project contributed to the increase of knowledge regarding shallow geothermal potentials for the purpose of improving the development of geothermal energy utilization projects in the Republic of Croatia, which directly achieved the goal of the Programme. The interest expressed in the results of the project by the expert and non-expert public during the implementation of the project through held workshops as well as through an individual approach, showed the importance of the availability of information on existing shallow geothermal systems soil-water and water-water in order to enable an increase in the number of installed systems.
With the the project PLIGES, a comprehensive analysis of existing systems that use the soil, underground and surface water for the production of thermal energy, through heat pumps, in heating and cooling systems, has begun. As there has been no systematic collection of data until now, this project has achieved a significant step forward for the assessment of annual energy production from shallow geothermal energy.
As part of the Information and Communication activities, the visibility of technology was increased, while the project workshops aimed at strengthening the professional competences of various stakeholders in the heating sector, but also in the building industry in general. Project flyers, boards and roll-ups were created and distributed to project team members, a project website with a link to a GIS map and materials from the workshops was created. During the implementation of the project, two project workshops were held, one in Osijek and one in Zagreb, and a round table on the topic of shallow geothermal energy was held as part of the final conference in Labin. In addition to the presentation of project activities, examples of good practice and procedures in the implementation and planning of such systems, as well as examples of implemented systems, were presented at all events. In addition to official workshops, the project was presented at several professional and scientific conferences.
On the basis of a completed questionnaire and data collected from a number of stakeholders on the heat pump market, as part of the activity Development of a database on shallow geothermal energy, a database was formed with over 150 implemented heating effect systems from just a few kilowatts for nZEB family houses to megawatt systems, most often used in the tourism sector. Database and assessment of heat energy supplied and produced is the basis for an interactive GIS map developed according to the requested call specification, which was the basic task of the activity Development of a database on shallow geothermal energy. The data is publicly available for review and entry of new systems through an interactive GIS (geographic information system) map. In the trial period, the first registered users of the database were recorded, primarily experts who participated in data collection.
Through the implementation of the project, all the set key goals were achieved. That is, the results of Outcome 2 were achieved higher than the target values:
- Estimated annual production of MWh from geothermal energy in the amount of 68,212 MWh of delivered thermal energy in heating.
- Estimated reduction of annual CO2 emissions in the amount of 11,731 t compared to systems that use gas as an energy source.
The following immediate results were also achieved:
- Database of shallow geothermal energy is installed (target value 1),
- 21 registered database users (target value 20),
- 3 workshops were held to disseminate the results (target value 3).
The estimate of the produced thermal energy is calculated according to the methodology 2013/114/EU: Commission Decision of 1 March 2013 establishing guidelines for Member States on the calculation of renewable energy from heat pumps for different heat pump technologies in accordance with Article 5 of Directive 2009/28 /EC of the European Parliament and the Council with certain corrections characteristic of geothermal systems implemented in the territory of the Republic of Croatia.
Direct target groups, such as public and state institutions, private and public organizations in the RES and heating sector, benefit directly from the results of the project because the creation of a database and an interactive GIS map ensures the visibility and representation of the technology. Tools that enable the aggregation and printing of collected data enable the assessment of the share of such systems in energy consumption and production at the local and national level. As this is the first comprehensive review of such systems, the foundations have been laid for its improvement and expansion, as well as for the improvement of the methodology for estimating produced energy, which was made possible by the Commission''s Decision of March 1, 2013 (2013/114/EU).
The collected data are of interest to the scientific community in order to use them for the purposes of research, modeling and simulating the operation of the system, the development of the heating sector and the penetration of renewable energy sources. Visibility of the technology and local representation are useful for the economic sector interested in investing in shallow geothermal systems, for the professional public (designers of thermotechnical systems, contractors, equipment distributors), as well as for the interested general public, in order to more easily see the applicability of this type of system with heat pumps when considering potential sources for heating and/or cooling. The interactive map is open access, i.e. data input for the general public is enabled, and thus the contribution of a wider circle of technical and scientific public is expected in supplementing the data and sustainability of the project results.
The purpose of the conducted workshops was to strengthen the capacity of all stakeholders and encourage discussion about the potential of this technology in the Republic of Croatia. At the final workshop, a visit of students from the Process-Energy Department of the Project Promotor, as one of the target groups, was ensured, in order to deepen their knowledge in this field firsthand. Produced materials, collected data, experiences gained during the implementation of the project, enable the Project Promotor and PP1 as educational institutions to improve their own materials in this area for teaching among the student population and during their promotional activities among the wider population of young people.
All materials and examples of good practice, which were presented to the audience, and the interactive map are publicly available on the project website. At the same time, upon completion of the design, a design brochure will be available with all important factors for the successful realization of projects. The above contributes to the sustainability of the results and a permanent source of content for capacity building in the area of application of shallow geothermal systems.