Geothermal development in Lithuania

Abstract

Lithuania is Middle European country possessing rich low-enthalpy geothermal resources (6000?1018J up to 3km deep). The first geothermal investigations initiated in 1987-1989-s. In Institute of Geology was prepared technical, geological and economical project for district heating of seven towns in western Lithuania from Cambrian, Devonian hydrothermal aquifers and from Hot Dry Rocks.
In 1992-1994-s Government of Denmark financed Baltic Geothermal Energy Project covering Lithuania and Latvia. On the basement of this project and other investigations Klaipeda Geothermal Demonstration Plant was engineered (prospective capacity 49MW, production of heat 598 TJ/year) to cover about 25% of yearly Klaipeda City heat demands.
The plant was built in 2000 and started producing heat. But plant is still not handed over by State Commission because of the problem gypsification in pipeline system.
As experience of KGDP shows, the first well must serve as investigationary one, all necessary geological, laboratorical and long-time hydrodynamics investigations must be done. Core drill extracting from production horizon should be obligatory.