| Title | Geothermal Update for Bulgaria (2010-2014) |
|---|---|
| Authors | Klara BOJADGIEVA, Hristo HRISTOV, Adriana BEROVA-ANDONOVA, Aleksey BENDEREV, Vladimir HRISTOV |
| Year | 2015 |
| Conference | World Geothermal Congress |
| Keywords | direct use, types of thermal water applications, geothermal policy |
| Abstract | Thermal waters in Bulgaria have only direct application as about 72% of the total discovered flow rate has temperature up to 50oC. Geothermal activity is mainly concentrated in the southern part of the country due to the higher water temperature combined with low water salinity (TDS), mostly below 1g/l. The current installed capacity amounts to about 83.1 MWt, excluding the low grade energy use by ground source heat pumps (GSHP). Towards 2014 the greatest thermal water quantity is used for balneology – 60.5% and direct water supply – 27.3 %. The total share of water used for individual space heating and greenhouses is low and amounts to about to 3.6%. GSHP are installed in family houses, blocks of flats, office and industrial buildings in different regions in the country. An innovative pilot system using CO2 earth heat pipe (GECO2) has been recently installed aiming at providing heating to an industrial building located in S. Bulgaria. In order to promote geothermal development about 70 state-owned reservoirs are currently granted to the local Municipalities for a period of 25 years by the Ministry of Environment and Water, 2014. A reduction of the fees for thermal water use about 3-4 times is expected to boost geothermal application in the country. |