Demostration Project Geothermal Exploitation De Lier: Exploration and Evaluation of Geothermal Resources in the Western Netherlands

Abstract

The public utility company .Nutsbedrijf Westland N.V.. (NBW) is one of the largest distributors of natural gas in The Netherlands. Its main group of clients are the greenhouse horticulturists in the Westland area south of The Hague (the largest continuous area of greenhouses in Europe). NBW commissioned the TNO Institute of Applied Geoscience to evaluate the possibilities of geothermal exploitation for the heating of 17 ha of greenhouses in this area, near De Lier. The objective is to demonstrate on a practical scale the technical and economic feasibility of the exploitation of low enthalpy geothermal resources (87 .C). The geothermal energy will be withdrawn from sandstones of the Early Cretaceous Vlieland Formation at a depth of 2 300 m, using a geothermal doublet On the basis of all the available geological and petrophysical information from existing oil and gas wells, it is concluded that the proposed geothermal venture will be technically feasible. Although an economic evaluation showed that the geothermal project will not be a paying enterprise under the current energy prices, the costs of reducing C02 emission (51 are competitive with other options currently being considered.