Geothermie Nederland publishes 2022 geothermal figures

Huisman equipment on geothermal project site, Netherlands (source: Huisman)

Geothermie Nederland, the umbrella organization for all stakeholders in the Dutch geothermal industry, has published a nice infographic that summarizes the 2022 geothermal output in the Netherlands.

According to Geothermie Nederland, a total of 6.8 PJ of geothermal energy was produced from 36 geothermal energy doublets at 26 locations in the Netherlands. This corresponds to savings of more than 193 million cubic meters of natural gas for the year and a reduction of 365,000 tonnes in CO2 emissions. The total geothermal energy output is roughly equivalent to the natural gas consumed by households in a city the size of Utrecht.

Geothermal energy output in the Netherlands in 2022 grew by 6% compared to 2021. Although more locations and geothermal doublets are added every year, the time spent for permitting, drilling, testing, and construction of heat networks delays the actual production of geothermal energy.

Hans Bolscher, Chairman of Geothermie Nederland, pointed out that the growth of geothermal in the Netherlands still lags far behind the potential. “Last year we presented our ambition of 40-50 PJ in 2030. And in the future, even about 25 percent of the entire Dutch heat demand can be met sustainably by geothermal energy, in greenhouse horticulture this is even more. than 50 percent. However, getting the more than 100 projects in the pipeline off the ground requires an integrated and coordinated approach to the heat transition. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, among others, is currently working hard on this.”

In late 2022, Geothermie Nederland joined a coalition of companies and industry association to call for shorter lead times on granting permits for large-scale sustainability projects in the Netherlands. The joint memorandum included recommendations to achieve this for geothermal, which currently takes an average of 3.5 to 9.5 years for the full development of a project.

Source: Geothermie Nederland