Mr. Stephane Mainguy, Business Development Support Manager in charge of District Heating Networks at Veolia France, took part in the International Discussion Forum "The future of geothermal projects in Sofia and the country" on 12 may 2023.
The goal of the conference, organized by the Bulgarian Energy and Mining Forum under the auspices of Sofia's Mayor, is to provoke discussion and focus public attention on the potential of geothermal energy for diversification of the production of thermal and electric energy. The interest in the topic is constantly growing, on the one hand due to the urgent need of decarbonization of the energy production and on the other – due to the planned measures at a municipal level for reducing the share of fossil fuels in the energy balance of the municipalities. The introduction of this new energy resource is also linked to another sore subject for the big cities – combatting air pollution. Up-to-date information about realized projects for heating and cooling using geothermal energy and projects of leading technological companies in that area were presented at the forum.
Stephane Mainguy made a presentation on Veolia's experience in geothermal heating under the French incentive scheme. He gave examples of Veolia’s work and expertise in district heating network development, using geothermal water, and highlighted that the geothermal energy is a local, accessible and renewable resource which we should make maximum use of. It was interesting for the audience to learn also what the state key levers in France to support the development of geothermal heating systems are.