Netherlands: Geothermal Project Greenwell Westland back in business

After a period of more than four weeks, the geothermal project Greenwell Westland is back in operation again. The couplings are replaced and a new pump makes installation more economical. In addition, two new companies are currently being connected to the geothermal well.

The pump by which pumps the water up from the ground, has been replaced by a more efficient one. "The reservoir flows better than we expected," says Leon Lankester of Agro consultancy. The pump has the same capacity as the previous one, but uses less electricity.

But the Greenwell Westland site underwent further maintenance. A damaged coupling caused problems, in turn leading to the decision to shut down proceedings for four weeks. This in order to replace both the pump and the couplings. 

Currently there are eight companies connected to Greenwell Westland: five principal investors and three customers. Two additional customers are about to join. Lankester expects to reach maximum capacity with those two additions. "But with geothermal energy you never know exactly how things will turn out. You cannot see into the future."

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