How geothermal has changed people’s thinking in Veresegyház?

Abstract

Veresegyház is a small town north-east of Budapest, capital of Hungary (1. Figure). The first geothermal well was drilled in 1987. The water is gained from Triassic karst reservoir at the depth of 1450 m. The wellhead temperature at moderate flow-rate (30m3/h) was 64oC. Utilization of hot water started in 1992 in an open-air swimming pool next to the well. Decision on energetic use was taken in 1993 when the grammar school was supplied by geothermal water via 680 m long pipeline. By the end of 2015 three other wells have been drilled and more than 60 consumers (heat stations) have been connected to the pipeline grid, which has been extended to 18 km long. Peoples in Veresegyház have taken to the geothermal. After 22 years of energetic use no one in the settlement wants to heat with natural gas. Investors of new buildings, either residential or public ones, and also industrial facilities require geothermal.