Geothermal energy is becoming increasingly popular in the Netherlands. This trend is also reinforced by the statistics provided by the Dutch Economic Affairs Ministry in its Natural Resources Report for 2014.
The report indicates that the first geothermal project in the Netherlands was initiated in 2007. Since then the number of projects has gradually increased, totalling 12 as per 1st of January 2015.
The geothermal doublets are spread across the country, namely in Venlo, De Lier, Honselersdijk, Berkel en Rodenrijs, Bleiswijk, Koekoekspolder, Pijnacker-Nootdorp (2), Middenmeer (2), The Hague and Heemskerk. Nevertheless, not all geothermal doublets were functional in 2014. Only nine out of twelve were generating power, in December 2014 (please see Fig.2).
The functional geothermal systems can produce up to 200TJ of thermal energy per month. In 2014, the total amount of energy harvested from the geothermal doublets was more than 1500TJ, which is the equivalent of heating 8000 homes a year.
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