Geothermal district heating in Oradea
Overview
Oradea, located in the north-west of Romania close to the Hungarian border, has a long history of geothermal energy use. The renewable source provides heating to several thousands of flats, domestic hot water, greenhouse heating, as well as heat for spas and a swimming pool.
There are two aquifers under the city and the first exploration well was drilled in 1963. Today, geothermal wells are spread all over Oradea (13 wells in 2017). The temperature of the geothermal brine pumped to the surface varies between 70 and over 100°C.
In addition to the good geological conditions, the vast existing district heating system offers another advantage for the use of geothermal heat in Oradea. Over 145,000 people are connected to the heating network which uses different heat sources, including geothermal. The network as well as the geothermal wells and plants are managed by Termoficare Oradea, the local district heating company.
District heating
The Iosia Nord district was the first in which geothermal district heating was extensively developed. 3,000 flats, equivalent to 8,000 inhabitants are connected to this subsystem of the heating grid. The first heat plant was commissioned in 2005 replacing 115.000 GJ/year of lignite and natural gas and covering 99% of the heating and domestic hot water in the district. Natural gas fired boilers only serve as backup. Today, the Iosia Nord district has an installed geothermal capacity of 21.5 MW.
In 2012, a 50 kW demonstration Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) power plant was installed connected to the Iosia heat plant being the first operational geothermal electric generation plant in Romania.
A second neighbourhood in Oradea receiving geothermal district heating is the University district. After covering the heat demand of all University buildings, the remaining heat from the single geothermal well is fed into the city’s central district heating system.
In 2023, the geothermal district heating in the city was expanded in two neighbourhoods adding a combined 12.2 MW thermal capacity.
The latest development is a geothermal project in the Nufărul neighbourhood which will supply clean heat to approximately 13,500 residents (6,217 apartments, public institutions and commercial spaces) through an existing district heating grid. Drilling to a depth of up to 3 km started in 2023 and the commissioning is scheduled for 2025. When completed, it is expected to be the biggest geothermal heating project in Oradea with 50 MW thermal installed capacity. It is financed through the EU’s Large Infrastructure Operational Program 2014-2020 under Objective 6.1.
Summary
Installed geothermal capacity: over 35 MW thermal and 50 kW electric
Depth of wells: up to 3,000 meters
Temperature: 70-100 °C
Heat customers: over 3,000 flats (in Iosia district alone), public buildings, the University, a hospital, spas, a swimming pool
Extension under development for 2025: 50 MW thermal for over 6,000 additional flats and commercial spaces
Operator: local district heating provider