A Review of Polish Experiences in the Use of Geothermal Water

Abstract

The paper presents the results of research - development works, that have been performed in Poland since 1989, when all-Polish programme regarding exploration and utilization of geothermal energy was started. This programme assumed the recognition of resource occurrence conditions and start-up three geothermal plants: first in the Podhale region, second in NW Poland, and third in the central part of the country. As a result of such activity, the geothermal plant in Podhale region was started in 1994 but another two plants had to be put off because of enormous financial problems in Poland in the eighties/nineties. Presently, five geothermal facilities produce energy from geothermal waters of the various temperatures.
These installations were described in this paper, and introduction to this part consists chapters that outline the problems related to the classiffication of geothermal waters and to the assessment of the volume of geothermal energy.