Drilling work will start this week for a planned geothermal heating project at the Svinica-Durkov site in the city of Kosice in Slovakia. Three wells, one production and two reinjection, will be drilled to depths of around 3700 meters. The thermal waters are expected to have temperatures of up to 135 °C and flowrates of 55 L/s.
The geothermal project in Kosice will be implemented by partners GEOTERM KOSICE and MH Teplarensky holding. The City of Kosice also significantly participated in the project, which it included as a priority in its new spatial plan approved this year.
The estimated capacity of the geothermal resource for heating and hot water supply is 90 to 100 MWt. This corresponds to about 175,000 MWh of thermal energy annually. MH Teplárenský holding expects that the first heat supplies to Kosice could take place in early 2028.
The project had received funding support of EUR 56.2 million the European Commission’s Just Transition Fund. About EUR 12 million of the funding will go towards the drilling phase, while the remaining EUR 44.2 million will go to the construction of an almost 16-kilometer heating pipeline from the geothermal wells to the Kosice heating plant.
“I am very pleased that after so many years, the people of Košice have finally seen it and the use of geothermal energy is now within reach. Even before the 2018 elections, I claimed that we had huge untapped potential in those wells for a green and sustainable future for Kosice. Since then, it has become my absolute priority,” said Mayor Jaroslav Polacek during the launch ceremony.
“Few believed us when we claimed that this dormant project could be launched. We got to work, convinced our partners and gradually overcame all obstacles so that we could soon launch ecological heating of the city of Košice from renewable energy sources. We will be a leader in the field of ecological and modern heating.”
Source: City of Kosice
