Klaipeda Geothermal Demonstration Plant
Encyclopedia
The Klaipėda Geothermal Demonstration Plant is a geothermal heating
plant in Klaipėda
, Lithuania
, constructed during the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was the first geothermal heating plant in the Baltic Sea
region. Its purpose was to reduce carbon dioxide
, sulfur dioxide
, nitrogen oxide
, and particulate emissions in the area, as well as to reduce Lithuania's dependence on foreign energy sources. The plant supplies district heating
to the city. Construction was financed by a loan from the World Bank
(US$5.9 million) and a grant from the Global Environment Facility
(US$6.9 million). The Danish
state company Dansk Olie og Naturgas (now DONG Energy
) provided technical support, and Enterprise Geoterma (EG) served as the implementing agency. The total cost of the plant was US$19.5 million.
of Lithuania and Latvia
were left with an energy sector that was heavily reliant on imported gas, oil, and nuclear
fuel sources. In 1996, when the plant project was appraised, domestic energy sources supplied only 2% of Lithuania's heat demand. The states began considering renewable energy
projects in response. Between 1992 and 1994 the Government of Denmark financed a study of the geothermal potential in Lithuania and Latvia called Baltic Geothermal Energy Project. Regional aquifers within the Devonian
and Cambrian
strata were analyzed along with the energy needs and geothermal potential of 12 urban areas: Klaipėda, Palanga
, Šiauliai
, Šilalė
, Šilutė
, Gargzdai
, Radviliškis
, and Joniškis
in Lithuania, and Liepāja
, Riga
, Jūrmala
, and Jelgava
in Latvia. On the basis of this project's findings and other investigations, Klaipėda was chosen as a pilot location. The World Bank had estimated the plant would reduce annual emissions of carbon dioxide
(CO2) by 47,800 tons and nitrogen dixodes (NOX) by 1 ton if it replaced natural gas
as a fuel, and reduce CO2 emissions by 51,940 tons, NOX by 11 tons, and sulfur dioxides by 1,160 tons per year if it additionally replaced heavy fuel oil
. According to this estimate, the plant would satisfy about 10% of the city's heat demand.
arises from the Gotland
tectonic belt
and Polotsk–Kurzeme
fault belt interface in the area, which generates thermal anomalies.
The plant uses 38 °C (100 °F) water from a well drilled into a Devonian
aquifer about 1100 metres (3,608.9 ft) beneath the surface. The heat is extracted using an absorption heat pump
, and circulates in a closed loop. It then contributes to the existing district heating system.
During its construction, difficulties arose when gypsum
clogged the well's filters, but these problems were overcome, and in 2004 the State Commission confirmed a plant capacity of 35 MWt, of which geothermal constituted 13.6 MWt. 103,000 MWh
of heat were produced in 2001, increasing to 215,000 MWh in 2003.
Enterprise Geoterma experienced financial difficulties, coming close to bankruptcy in 2007. The company planned to reconstruct the plant during 2008, possibly adding electrical generating capacity.
Geothermal heating
Geothermal heating is the direct use of geothermal energy for heating applications. Humans have taken advantage of geothermal heat this way since the Paleolithic era. Approximately seventy countries made direct use of a total of 270 PJ of geothermal heating in 2004...
plant in Klaipėda
Klaipeda
Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Nemunas River where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County....
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, constructed during the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was the first geothermal heating plant in the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
region. Its purpose was to reduce carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
, sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is released by volcanoes and in various industrial processes. Since coal and petroleum often contain sulfur compounds, their combustion generates sulfur dioxide unless the sulfur compounds are removed before burning the fuel...
, nitrogen oxide
Nitrogen oxide
Nitrogen oxide can refer to a binary compound of oxygen and nitrogen, or a mixture of such compounds:* Nitric oxide, also known as nitrogen monoxide, , nitrogen oxide* Nitrogen dioxide , nitrogen oxide...
, and particulate emissions in the area, as well as to reduce Lithuania's dependence on foreign energy sources. The plant supplies district heating
District heating
District heating is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating and water heating...
to the city. Construction was financed by a loan from the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
(US$5.9 million) and a grant from the Global Environment Facility
Global Environment Facility
The Global Environment Facility unites 182 member governments — in partnership with international institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector — to address global environmental issues....
(US$6.9 million). The Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
state company Dansk Olie og Naturgas (now DONG Energy
DONG Energy
-History:The Danish state company Dansk Naturgas A/S was founded in 1972 to manage resources in the Danish sector of the North Sea. After some years, the company was renamed to Dansk Olie og Naturgas A/S . At the beginning of 2000s, DONG started to extend itself into the electricity market by...
) provided technical support, and Enterprise Geoterma (EG) served as the implementing agency. The total cost of the plant was US$19.5 million.
Background
After declaring independence from the Soviet Union, the Baltic StatesBaltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
of Lithuania and Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
were left with an energy sector that was heavily reliant on imported gas, oil, and nuclear
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
fuel sources. In 1996, when the plant project was appraised, domestic energy sources supplied only 2% of Lithuania's heat demand. The states began considering renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
projects in response. Between 1992 and 1994 the Government of Denmark financed a study of the geothermal potential in Lithuania and Latvia called Baltic Geothermal Energy Project. Regional aquifers within the Devonian
Devonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
and Cambrian
Cambrian
The Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, lasting from Mya ; it is succeeded by the Ordovician. Its subdivisions, and indeed its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latin name for Wales, where Britain's...
strata were analyzed along with the energy needs and geothermal potential of 12 urban areas: Klaipėda, Palanga
Palanga
Palanga and beautiful sand dunes. Officially Palanga has the status of a city municipality and includes Šventoji, Nemirseta, Būtingė and other settlements, which are considered as part of the city of Palanga.-Legend:...
, Šiauliai
Šiauliai
Šiauliai , is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 133,900. It is the capital of Šiauliai County. Unofficially, the city is the capital of Northern Lithuania.-Names:...
, Šilalė
Šilale
Šilalė is a city in the Tauragė County, Lithuania. It is located north of Tauragė. River Lokysta flows through the city....
, Šilutė
Šilute
Šilutė is a city in the south of the Klaipėda County, Lithuania. The city was part of the Klaipėda Region and ethnographic Lithuania Minor. Šilutė was the interwar capital of Šilutė County and is currently the capital of Šilutė district municipality.-Name:...
, Gargzdai
Gargždai
Gargždai is a city in western Lithuania located in Klaipėda County. The Minija River flows through the city. Gargždai Stadium is its main sports venue.Gargždai is the Lithuanian name of the city...
, Radviliškis
Radviliškis
Radviliškis is a city in the Radviliškis district municipality , Šiauliai County, Lithuania. Radviliškis has been the administrative center of the district since 1950, and is an important railway junction.-History:...
, and Joniškis
Joniškis
Joniškis is a city in northern Lithuania with a population of about 11,150. It is located 40 kilometers north of Šiauliai and 14 kilometers south of the Lithuania–Latvia border...
in Lithuania, and Liepāja
Liepaja
Liepāja ; ), is a republican city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea directly at 21°E. It is the largest city in the Kurzeme Region of Latvia, the third largest city in Latvia after Riga and Daugavpils and an important ice-free port...
, Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, Jūrmala
Jurmala
Jūrmala is a city in Latvia, about 25 kilometers west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching and sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River...
, and Jelgava
Jelgava
-Sports:The city's main football team, FK Jelgava, plays in the Latvian Higher League and won the 2009/2010 Latvian Football Cup.- Notable people :*August Johann Gottfried Bielenstein - linguist, folklorist, ethnographer...
in Latvia. On the basis of this project's findings and other investigations, Klaipėda was chosen as a pilot location. The World Bank had estimated the plant would reduce annual emissions of carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
(CO2) by 47,800 tons and nitrogen dixodes (NOX) by 1 ton if it replaced natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
as a fuel, and reduce CO2 emissions by 51,940 tons, NOX by 11 tons, and sulfur dioxides by 1,160 tons per year if it additionally replaced heavy fuel oil
Fuel oil
Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash...
. According to this estimate, the plant would satisfy about 10% of the city's heat demand.
Plant design and operation
The potential for geothermal heating using the source aquiferAquifer
An aquifer is a wet underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology...
arises from the Gotland
Gotland
Gotland is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden; it is Sweden's largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, the region makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area...
tectonic belt
Plate tectonics
Plate tectonics is a scientific theory that describes the large scale motions of Earth's lithosphere...
and Polotsk–Kurzeme
Kurzeme
Kurzeme is the Latvian name for Courland, a historical region of Latvia.It may also refer to:* Kurzeme District, Riga, an administrative district of Riga, Latvia* Kurzeme Region, a planning region of Latvia...
fault belt interface in the area, which generates thermal anomalies.
The plant uses 38 °C (100 °F) water from a well drilled into a Devonian
Devonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
aquifer about 1100 metres (3,608.9 ft) beneath the surface. The heat is extracted using an absorption heat pump
Heat pump
A heat pump is a machine or device that effectively "moves" thermal energy from one location called the "source," which is at a lower temperature, to another location called the "sink" or "heat sink", which is at a higher temperature. An air conditioner is a particular type of heat pump, but the...
, and circulates in a closed loop. It then contributes to the existing district heating system.
During its construction, difficulties arose when gypsum
Gypsum
Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found in alabaster, a decorative stone used in Ancient Egypt. It is the second softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale...
clogged the well's filters, but these problems were overcome, and in 2004 the State Commission confirmed a plant capacity of 35 MWt, of which geothermal constituted 13.6 MWt. 103,000 MWh
MWH
MWH may stand for:* International Air Transport Association airport code for Grant County International Airport* MWH Global, an international water engineering consultancy* Men Without Hats, a Canadian New Wave band...
of heat were produced in 2001, increasing to 215,000 MWh in 2003.
Enterprise Geoterma experienced financial difficulties, coming close to bankruptcy in 2007. The company planned to reconstruct the plant during 2008, possibly adding electrical generating capacity.
External links
- The World Bank: Projects - Lithuania
- "Klaipėda Geothermal Demonstration Plant" in Proceedings of the World Geothermal Congress