GEOCOM Site Galanta
Galanta is situated in the south-western part of Slovakia, near Bratislava. Spread over 396 ha, the town has 16 500 residents. The exploration of geothermal energy in Galanta began back in the 1980s when drilling works for geothermal wells were initiated. Since the mid-1990s, these wells have been used for heating the energy supply via district heating.
The focus of the interventions in Galanta as part of the GEOCOM project was on the complete refurbishment of designated buildings (residential and public), including photovoltaic installations and the connection of additional buildings to the district heating network.
Overall a gross floor area of 18 183 m² was refurbished by applying insulation to outer walls, and replacing doors and windows. As a result of the energy efficiency, 850 MWh/yr of final energy are being saved in the buildings that underwent retrofitting activities.
Three multi-storey residential buildings, an elderly care home and a medical laboratory were connected to the district heating network, with a total consumption of 1983 MWh/yr. From the point of view of primary energy demand, an average total primary energy savings of 714 MWh is achieved every year from this connection.
According to SCIS calculations based on the energy monitoring data and the respective emission factors, the total CO2 emission savings due to the refurbishment measures amount to 424 tonnes of CO2 per year, and the CO2 emission savings resulting from adding new buildings to the district heating network amount to 388 t/yr. The total CO2 emission savings are 812 t/yr.
Financial & Economic
Country |
Encountered barriers |
Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Slovakia |
The payback periods are relatively long. |
This project is unlikely to attract interest from private investors unless a cost-benefit analysis allows factoring in environmental and social benefits that can be monetised and charged. This can be done in one of two ways: by introducing fees to parents of pupils or the tenants for example, which is not legally possible in many countries either for public schools or because of tenant protection; or by introducing concession systems from the state with public-private partnerships, grants or energy subsidies through feed-in tariffs. |
Regulatory & Administrative
Country |
Encountered barriers |
Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Slovakia |
Difficulties with the complicated legislation in Slovakia were encountered during the implementation works. In the case of the photovoltaic installations, the return on investment is not cost-effective due to the administrative obstacles and national legislation. |
The legislation for renewable energy seems to require a review and needs to be further researched. |
Social
Country |
Encountered barriers |
Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Slovakia |
The environmental benefits of using already-existing geothermal wells for the supply of heating energy did not seem to have an influence on the decision-making of the buildings’ tenants. There was an overall lack of awareness or interest from the general public on the sustainability needs. |
The inhabitants of the refurbished buildings were informed about all the technologies used, such as the photovoltaic system. The technologies used also became part of the school’s curriculum. |
The following interventions were implemented in Galanta as part of the GEOCOM project:
Energy efficiency in buildings
- Retrofitting the building envelope
- Retrofitting the walls
- Replacement of windows and doors
- Building integrated renewable energy sources
- Photovoltaic installations on roofs
Energy systems integration
- District heating and cooling
- Additional connections to geothermally-driven district heating network
The investment cost for the intervention was EUR 60/m², making a total of EUR 1 million. According to the provided data, the yearly cost savings for energy result in EUR 116 070 for the monitored values. The costs saved by the interventions amount to EUR 38 927.
The resulting payback period is 28 years for the whole project. The payback period for all the refurbishment measures is 22 years. The elementary school has the shortest payback period with 15 years, the kindergarten the longest with 25 years.
The Concerto activities will be focused on the further utilization of the geothermal energy, which is a unique treasure of the city and on the integration of the renewable energy sources. The municipality's effort is to use this green energy widespread in the city and assure this energy for the next generations. Because the refurbished buildings need less energy, more geothermal energy can be used for the domestic hot water production of other buildings in the Concerto area.
The geothermal energy is used for heating and for the production of domestic hot water. Residential buildings (6-8 floor block of flats), a hospital, an elderly house, a nursery, a primary school, and two groceries are heated by geothermal energy. The rest of the city is heated by natural gas.
- Estimated population involved: 1.249
- Approx. geographical area coverage: 108,61 km2
- Approx. energy saving: 30%
- Approx. energy from RES (in %): Information will follow