FloraHolland, Westland Infra and HVC are working on a geothermal project. From a Lower Cretaceous layer, drilling is moving into a Triassic layer 4 km deep. Recently, the consortium made concrete agreements with the Ministry of Economic Affairs on a guarantee of 3.6 million Euro. Through this 'Green Deal', the additional costs of the exploratory drilling in the Triassic layer will be covered. The Green Deal is therefore an important step towards the realisation of the first exploratory drilling into the Triassic.
A geological study conducted on behalf of Westland has shown that the 'Triassic layer "which is 4 kilometres deep, could provide up to 80% of Westland's heat. Geologists have not reached a consensus on the amount of heat that is economically recoverable. The discussion focused on whether the permeability of the Triassic layer is good enough. The only way to find out is to continue drilling. For this reason, the consortium parties and the Westland municipality took the initiative to conduct an exploratory drilling. If the Triassic layer proves not to be suitable, yet a successful geothermal project will be possible on the shallower Lower Cretaceous layer.
Letter of intent with greenhouse growers
In 2012, an inventory on the possible use of geothermal energy was carried out with sixty Westland businesses. Based on an average of 0.15 MWth per hectare, it was established that there is a need for at least 50MWth. For glasshouse holdings currently already connected to a geothermal source this figure is actually of 0.25 or 0.30 MWth per hectare, and thus the real demand could consequently turn out to be much greater. In the short term, the consortium will take further steps to obtain more concrete data. This will be done through a letter of intent with a number of firms. Companies also wishing to take part may contact Marco van Soerland (06 12702087, [email protected]) or approach him during September's briefing.
Nature's Heat
Geothermal FloraHolland and Nature's Heat are currently finalising a cooperation agreement. Both parties agree not only to share information, but also to cooperate where possible in order to make an optimal use of geothermal energy sources. Part of the agreement includes the transfer of a part of the exploration license by Geothermal FloraHolland to Nature's Heat.
Source: Energiek2020
