[4. 11. 2024] Press release published on 1 November 2024 on the Litoměřice town website:
The presentation of experts from Charles University and the Czech Technical University in Prague, which took place yesterday evening in the hall of the Litoměřice Castle, focused on the concrete results achieved in the first period, which include in particular the measurement of 2D seismic profiles to a depth of five kilometres and the start of drilling pilot wells. However, the attendees were able to ask questions about everything there is to know about the ongoing research at the former Jiří z Poděbrad barracks in Litoměřice. The crowded hall of the castle was proof that the topic is important for the inhabitants of Litoměřice.
The public hearing took place within the framework of the SYNERGYS strategic project. Its main objective is to find out how to use the earth's heat even from great depths and how to combine it effectively with other renewable energy sources.
"That is why hydrogen and its production from solar energy is part of the research. Its production generates a large amount of heat, but nobody wants it in summer, so we will store it underground and in winter we will take it out of here using heat pumps and use it for heating," described the project's principal investigator Tomáš Fischer from the Faculty of Science of Charles University. The integration of different sources and technologies and their appropriate combination and use in summer or winter are the key attributes of the project.
"For this reason, the project is divided into four sub-systems to cover most situations that can occur in the real energy sector, whether it concerns energy sources or their size or the way they are used, for example, in industrial areas, hospitals or district heating," said Bořivoj Šourek from the University Centre for Energy Efficient Buildings at the CTU.
The significance of the project goes far beyond the borders of Litoměřice, which is why it was selected by the Ústí nad Labem Region as one of the strategic projects financed by the Fair Transformation Programme, which is intended for the Ústí nad Labem, Karlovy Vary and Moravian-Silesian Regions.
"After years of negotiation at the EU level, this programme has been pushed through and now supports disadvantaged regions in their energy and economic transformation. The Ústí nad Labem Region can use nearly CZK 16 billion of the total CZK 42 billion. These can be used for projects of strategic importance, such as SYNERGYS, but also for smaller projects to support entrepreneurship, the development of health and social services, education, environmental measures, greening of transport or revitalisation of brownfields," explained Radana Leistner Kratochvílová, Director of the Department for Supporting the Transformation to a Low Carbon Economy of the Ministry of the Environment, who came to Litoměřice to present the programme to the public in person.
Important partner of the project is the city of Litoměřice, in whose area of the former Jiří z Poděbrad barracks the project is implemented, and the operator of the local district heating network ENERGIE Holding, which should be connected to the newly built heat sources at the very end.
"Of course, this is the biggest benefit for the residents of the town and the institutions or companies connected to district heating, that we will be able to gradually replace coal with new, clean sources, but someone has to verify them in practice and prove under what conditions they are efficient, stable and safe in the long term, so that we can use them in practice," agree Radek Löwy, mayor of Litoměřice, and Jan Nechvátal, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ENERGIE Holding.
The heating plant also participated in the public hearing by donating an electric bicycle worth CZK 40,000. The participants of the hearing could get it by filling in the questionnaires, representing a small probe into the awareness of the population about geothermal energy and renewable resources. In the final draw, the bike was taken home by Mrs. Kateřina.
"It is important for us that the residents of the city perceive district heating as a promising and ecological source that is effective in the long run and worth developing. However, we also have to counteract misinformation that often leads to individual customers disconnecting, which is ultimately not good for them or for those who remain in the system," the Chairman of the Board of ENERGIE Holding pointed out the current challenges, adding that the company has also signed a memorandum with the Faculty of Science of the Charles University. This defines specific areas of cooperation between researchers and the district heating operator with the aim of making it more efficient and ecological.
Radek Löwy, the mayor of Litoměřice, also reminded that the town had already established its own joint stock company (now named ENLITOS) in 2011 in connection with the geothermal project, which is tasked with installing photovoltaics on municipal buildings and promoting and developing community energy. The main objective is to increase the share of renewable energy in the city while gradually increasing energy independence, which will contribute, among other things, to greater stability and predictability of electricity prices for city buildings.
News on the SYNERGYS project can be continuously monitored on the website www.rin-gen.cz. The earliest opportunity to learn about the new developments on site will be during an open day to be held at the beginning of May 2025 at the RINGEN Research Centre in Jiří z Poděbrad barracks.
Questions from the public at the public hearing:
Can you compare the performance of SYNERGYS systems with the current performance of the Litoměřice heating plant and can it replace it in the future?
The SYNERGYS project cannot completely replace the capacity of the heating plant in the future and will not provide heating for the entire city. However, it can supplement it, for example, by providing hot water heating for connected households in the summer months from the borehole. The project is also a research and testing centre, so the exact amount of energy that can be supplied to the grid cannot be determined in advance.
Does the heating plant currently use only coal or does it have other raw materials available? If so, in what proportion?
Currently, the heating plant operates one coal-fired boiler, and only during the winter peak. This means that 60 per cent of the heat is supplied from biomass, which is burned by two boilers. The heating plant intends to replace the last coal-fired boiler by the beginning of 2027 at the latest, when it plans to stop burning coal. Like the existing ones, the new source is to be biomass-fired in the form of wood chips. The plan is also to supplement the heating technology with photovoltaics or heat pumps.
Could a landslide occur in connection with deep boreholes? What will be the parameters of the borehole?
This is a deep borehole that will not affect the movement of soil on the ground surface. The borehole will have a diameter of approximately 80 centimetres at the surface and approximately 25 centimetres at the end. In addition, the entire borehole is cased, which means that the steel pipe is cemented to withstand the pressure of the surrounding rock and prevent it from breaking. The borehole is then partially open at the end, or the casing is perforated to allow the fluid to flow through the rock and thus be heated. Similar boreholes are commonly used in oil and gas extraction.
What happens when the rock beneath the surface moves?
The rock will not move by itself at that depth, even as a result of drilling. What can happen, however, is that if we pressurise the borehole with water, naturally occurring fractures may be disturbed or enlarged, but this is our intention. At the surface, this will be recorded as a microearthquake, technically called microseismicity. Therefore, the borehole and the surrounding area is being monitored by a fairly extensive seismic network. Seismic activity has been measured in Litoměřice for six years and no earthquakes have been recorded. We therefore expect that the massif below the surface is stable. Nevertheless, we will use the so-called semaphore system, which determines exactly under which conditions the underground work must be limited or stopped completely so that seismicity does not manifest itself visibly on the surface.
