Neither wood, nor gas, nor coal: The first town in Europe heated from a hot lake is in - Serbia

Foto: D. Grujić

A remote heating system that uses geothermal energy instead of conventional energy sources has been put into operation in Bogatic. A source whose output is 25 liters per second, with water temperature of 75 degrees (centigrade), is now being used to heat a primary and a secondary school, a kindergarten, a court, a social welfare center, a utility company and a police station.

Experts from the Faculty of Mining and Geology made a proposal based on which an "open system" was designed and built. This means that there is no classic heating plant, but instead each of the facilities connected to the system retain exactly the calculated amount of heat through an exchanger. This is the first such remote heating system exploiting renewable energy in Serbia and in the former Yugoslavia.

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The municipal administration points out that they will make significant budget savings in this way, since the heating of the eight public facilities connected to the system would in the past cost between 15 and 18 million dinars annually. The investment will pay off after five years, when heating will effectively become free.

"The project is worth 120 million dinars and is mostly financed from loans. Until now the eight public buildings with a total area of ​​16,000 square meters were heated by coal, fuel oil or electricity, which are all very expensive compared to geothermal energy, that is practically an inexhaustible natural resource," the municipal administration points out.

Photo: D. Grujic

The eight public buildings with an old boiler system used 3.3 megawatts of installed heat, while the use of geothermal energy provides 2.1 megawatts. This is half the energy capacity of the source, which is why the plan is to, in the near future, expand the hot water pipeline to the Health Center here.

"Apart from being cheaper, heating with renewable geothermal energy is also more environmentally friendly. Boiler rooms and smoke will become a thing of the past, which will significantly reduce air pollution," noted officials from a local elementary school that was previously heated from coal.

Photo: D. Grujic

The municipality plans new projects with the support of the Faculty of Mining and Geology. Professor Dejan Milenic's vision is for the whole town to be heated using hot water in a few years.

"We are starting construction of the first geo-heating plant in Serbia, so Bogatic will be the first town in Europe that will be 100 percent heated from renewable sources. This project is planned on a BB2 rig with an 8-megawatt capacity. The municipality has taken over exploration rights from that well, where water temperature is 80 degrees. We will finish the tests by mid-2020, and everything could be completed in two to three years," said Milenic.

A huge geothermal lake was discovered at depths between 500 and 700 meters nearly a decade ago in this poor municipality, after which seven exploratory wells were dug. Since then, geothermal energy has only been spoken about as a great potential, wasted in the absence of ideas and resources. It's estimated that tens of millions of euros of valuable thermal energy have since evaporated.

Warm water is already recognized as a potential to develop recreational tourism and spas

The enterprising Prsic brothers built a canal taking hot water from one of the wells to a pool on their property, creating two makeshift spas, "Jokin Grab" and "Macvansko Vrelo." Here, people bathe in the open air both in the summer and in the winter, while individuals come several times a year from abroad and from distant cities because they have noticed the water's healing, primarily when it comes to diseases of the locomotor apparatus.

The first major project to exploit geothermal waters was realized several years ago by Ljubomir Dragovic, when the "Thermal Riviera" complex was built. Throughout the year, indoor and outdoor swimming pools with additional facilities and, more recently, accommodations attract a large number of guests from all over the region.

(D.Grujic)