“Pangea” will produce the thermal power needed to heat 120,000 homes. Will feed hydroponic greenhouses and industrial zone

An auger drills into the ground. It will reach as deep as 6,000 meters, where the subsurface temperature touches 150 degrees Celsius. The construction site in Ostellato, Ferrara, Italy. Here, in a couple of years, the first medium-enthalpy geothermal plant will be operational. When fully operational, the plant will produce heat output equal to that needed to heat 120 thousand homes, in addition to electricity. But here the use will be different. It will power nearby hydroponic greenhouses-where tomatoes are grown year-round-and the industrial zone, contributing to the de-carbonization of the area. One and a half hectares is the affected land, but 90 percent of the structure is developed underground. Clean energy with no contraindications, they reassure. And without subsidence risks.

The Ferrara facility will not be the only one. In the company’s intentions there are 15 more, especially in northern Italy-that is, where there are district heating plants that, in the future, will be able to convey heat from underground. “Pangea,” the name given to the project. Renewable energy, which unlike wind and photovoltaics is not subject to weather conditions, and therefore will always be available.

In Francesco Rossi’s report, the words of Florian Gostner, Ad Fri-El Green House.