Start of drilling at Aardwarmte Vogelaer

After months of preparation, the geothermal project Aardwarmte Vogelaer has started drilling in Poeldijk, Holland. The official start took place on 12 August. The seven participating glasshouse companies are expected to begin using the geothermal energy station located at the Wateringseweg and the heat distribution network to be set up at the end of 2016.

Drilling company DrillTec GUT GmbH will perform the drilling. The drilling work takes place 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is expected to take approximately three months.

First the production well will be drilled, from which the well water will be pumped up. Then the injection well will be drilled. Through this well the cooled water will be pumped back into the sand layer. Both wells will be located at 2,500 meters depth and extract hot water of approximately 85 degrees. The heat from this water is used to heat the greenhouse farms in a sustainable manner. This way the related horticultural companies expect to annually emit approximately 23 kilo tonnes less C02 and save more than 13 million m3 of natural gas. This is equivalent to the consumption by approximately 8,000 households.

With Aardwarmte Vogelaer participating companies Optiflor, Fachjan, Kwekerij Apartus, Amazone Plants, Gebr. Grootscholten Handelskwekerij, Kwekerij Barendse and Zuidgeest Growers have made a conscious choice towards the sustainable cultivation of their products and contribution to a cleaner, healthier future.