The Teleheating Florina project entails the development of a thermal energy-based district heating network to supply heat and hot water to 2 534 residential buildings in Florina, a city of 23 000 inhabitants in Greece's West Macedonia region. Funded by the EU, the project will replace the burning of fossil fuels with a clean source of energy.
- 20 August 2018
In the second phase of Teleheating Florina, all of the necessary tasks underway to complete the district heating network and put it into operation. These include the laying of a 10.7 km-long, 450 mm-diameter underground twin heating pipeline, a 52.3 km primary distribution network and a 43 km supply network.
Construction of two main and two auxiliary pumping stations, and the installation of one backup boiler, heat storage boilers with a total volume of 1 800 m³ and a thermal substation for each building served by the network also form part of the project.
In addition, phase two includes the establishment of connections with public energy networks and ancillary actions such as archaeological excavations, publicity initiatives and the provision of technical advice.
One of Greece’s coldest cities
Florina, the capital of the Florina region, is situated in northern Greece, around 13 km from the border with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and just over 30 km from that with Albania. Owing to its high elevation and northerly, inland location, it is one of the coldest cities in the country. The city normally has heavy snowfall, thick fog and regular sub-zero temperatures during winter, sometimes for several consecutive days. An efficient and environmentally friendly heating network is of vital importance for local residents.
Teleheating Florina will recover residual heat from electric power generation at the SES Melitis steam-electric power station, which is located close to Florina and run by the government-owned Public Power Corporation, the largest electric power company in Greece. This heat will then be transferred to Florina through the underground pipeline and used for heating of and supplying hot water to homes in the city.
It is expected that the system will bring about considerable energy savings and an 88 % reduction in greenhouse gas emissions caused by heat energy consumption in Florina.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “District Heating at Florina – Phase B” is EUR 57 838 503, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 30 370 225 through the “Transport Infrastructure, Environment and Sustainable Development” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period.