Multi-Billion Forint Tender Package to Support Geothermal Projects

Within a few weeks, a HUF 70 billion (EUR 173 million) package of tenders will be made available under the Jedlik Ányos Energy Program to help geothermal projects, the Energy Ministry’s State Secretary for Energy said on Thursday in Kiskunhalas (southern Hungary).

Attila Steiner, speaking at the opening event of the heating modernization project using geothermal energy, said the aim of the tenders is to replace as much natural gas consumption as possible in Hungary in the long term. He stressed that currently the natural gas exposure of the district heating sector is extremely high, over 70 percent, and the government aims to reduce it to 40-50 percent, that alone could save the country hundreds of millions of cubic meters of natural gas.

He said that

a significant part of natural gas is imported, thus in the future it can be replaced by a locally available energy source, geothermal energy, that is environmentally friendly and renewable.

The project in Kiskunhalas would also use an existing hydrocarbon well to bring geothermal energy to the surface.

The investment in Kiskunhalas is a pilot project, that will answer questions such as what water yields can be expected and whether such a well can really produce the same as a completely new one.

The State Secretary said that, if it works, it could be a good example for other municipalities.

The Swiss Ambassador to Hungary, Jean-François Paroz, pointed out that the Swiss-Hungarian Cooperation Program (Swiss Fund) provides almost HUF 5 billion (EUR 12 million) in support for initiatives to improve energy efficiency and the use of renewable geothermal energy.

About half of the funds will be used in less developed regions of Hungary, and a total of 11 municipalities will receive support.

This includes Kiskunhalas with some HUF 251 million (EUR 621,000) from the Hungarian and Swiss budgets, he added.

Gábor Bányai, government commissioner responsible for the complex development of the South Great Plain Economic Development Zone, said that south of Kiskunhalas, beyond Subotica (Szabadka, in Serbia) and up to the border of the Baja region, “an amazing geological formation lies deep in the earth.” “The layer, thousands of meters thick, hides a wealth of fossil energy,” he explained. He recalled that

in the past decades it has been suggested several times that the sites of former exploratory or production drilling sites in and around Kiskunhalas should be exploited, because large amounts of thermal energy have been found in the layers below 2,500 meters.

MS Energy Solutions Kft. has been awarded a grant of HUF 215 million (EUR 532,000) from the Swiss Fund, with governmental co-financing of around HUF 40 million (EUR 99,000) and the company providing almost HUF 50 million (EUR 124,000) for the project.

Mátyás Gáti, Managing Director of MS Energy Solutions Kft., a geothermal, energy and geological consultancy and construction company, explained that the system developed by the company is closed-cycle, making use of the structure of existing deep boreholes in an environmentally friendly way without geological risks and water extraction.

The Swiss support will enable them to make effective use of a disused, barren hydrocarbon well, eliminating the need for fossil fuels and saving more than 100 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

Geothermal Energy Could Replace Gas by 2030