Geothermal boost for Amsterdam: OMV and Cocreators selected to lead regional heat projects The Aardwarmte Regio Amsterdam consortium — made up of Vattenfall, the Municipality of Amsterdam and Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN) — has selected OMV, in collaboration with Cocreators, as the operator to advance geothermal projects for collective heat networks across the Amsterdam region. The decision, reached after a European tender process, brings an experienced international energy company and a project-management specialist together with local partners to test feasibility, design potential geothermy doublets and, where viable, develop and implement geothermal heat production for district heating systems. Why this matters Decarbonising heating is one of the most urgent and technically complex elements of the energy transition in dense European cities. In the Netherlands, where gas has historically supplied much of the built environment, scaling low-carbon alternatives for space heating and ho...
How Geothermal Energy Works: From Underground Heat to Electricity Grid By: Robert Buluma In 1904, the Italian town of Larderello lit five lightbulbs using nothing but the heat of the Earth. By 1913, a full-scale plant was producing 250 kilowatts there from natural steam vents. Yet more than a century later, geothermal remains one of the most underappreciated clean energy sources on the planet — today accounting for just about 0.5% of global electricity. That is beginning to change. As the world searches for reliable, round-the-clock renewable power to complement intermittent wind and solar, geothermal is attracting unprecedented attention. "Geothermal could be the backbone to providing a clean, affordable, reliable, low-cost grid," says Katrina McLaughlin of the World Resources Institute. With emerging technologies poised to unlock heat virtually anywhere beneath our feet, understanding how this remarkable resource works has never been more important. I. The Fiery Engine Dee...