Finland’s first enhanced geothermal system tapped 6-kilometer-deep heat to power a district heating network in Espoo.
St1 Deep Heat drilled two wells to a depth of 6.4 kilometers into the crystalline basement rock, where temperatures reach 120 degrees Celsius. Water injected into the first well flows through natural fractures and returns via the second well at 100 degrees Celsius, feeding the city’s heating grid.
The system uses hydraulic stimulation to enhance fracture permeability, a technique adapted from the oil and gas industry. Unlike conventional geothermal, which requires hot aquifers, enhanced geothermal systems can be deployed almost anywhere with sufficient drilling depth.
The Espoo plant produces 40 megawatts of thermal energy, enough to heat 10,000 homes, with a carbon footprint 95 percent lower than natural gas. The electricity to run the pumps comes from Finland’s nuclear and hydro grid, making the entire heat supply carbon-neutral.
Finland’s geology, part of the Fennoscandian Shield, is ideal for deep geothermal due to its high heat flow and stable crystalline rock. The project demonstrates that even non-volcanic regions can harness geothermal energy for baseload heat, a critical component of Europe’s decarbonization.
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