Today, the biggest geothermal heating system in the EU has been inaugurated in Szeged, in the south of Hungary. The EU has invested €23 million to provide clean, renewable, and affordable energy to over 28,000 households and over 400 public buildings in the area.
- 25 May 2023
The heating network in Szeged, the largest in Europe outside Iceland, thanks to the EU, has now 27 wells, 16 heating plants, and 250 kilometres of distribution pipe network.
Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, said: “This project ensures clean energy, drastic reduction of emissions and serve to diversify from the Russian gas import. The ‘Szeged model’ can be replicable in many other cities as about 25% of EU population lives in areas with sufficient geothermal resource. This will significantly help to reach the EU climate goals.”
Geothermal heating is a low-emission system that harnesses thermal energy from the earth and converts it into warm air.
In 2014-2020, Hungary benefited from Cohesion Policy funding worth €22.5 billion. The EU has supported several municipalities across the country to develop similar geothermal energy projects.
More information
More details on Cohesion Policy supported projects in Hungary on Kohesio and in the Cohesion Open Data Platform.
You can watch the video on the project here.