Geothermal drilling commences in Zyrardow, Poland

Start of geothermal drilling operations in Zyrardow, Poland (source: Zyrardow official website)

The town of Zyrardów in the Masovia Voivodeship of Poland has started the drilling of a geothermal well meant to supply heat to the municipal heating network. The geothermal well will be drilled vertically to a depth of about 3 kilometers where water at 70 °C is expected. The work is expected to take 3 months.

The project, officially called “Construction of an exploration and appraisal well for thermal waters Zyrardów GT-1 in the town of Zyrardów” was co-financed by a PLN 19.8-million subsidy from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management under the first round of the “Making thermal waters available in Poland.” A second round of grants from the same program has since been announced.

The drilling operations was inaugurated on 16 January 2024 by Lucjan Krzysztof Chrzanowski, the Mayor of Zyrardów. “This historic moment of drill launch, in which I had the great pleasure of participating together with my colleagues, closes the long and extremely difficult process of preparations for the commencement of work, and opens up a chance for Zyrardów to be among the pioneering cities using geothermal technology.”

The project is being headed by the municipal company PEC Zyrardów. The drilling contractor, EXALO, was selected after a tender process.

If the results of the drilling and well testing are positive, the GT-1 well will be used for the extraction of thermal waters. This will be supplied to the municipal heating network and can also be used for recreational purposes.

Government funding has jumpstarted geothermal development in Poland with projects recently announced or started in Krakow, Sochachzew, and Otwock.

Source: Zyrardow official website