Aspects of current geothermal application in Bulgaria

Abstract

The territory of Bulgaria is rich in thermal water of temperature in the range of 20 C-100 C. Electricity generation from geothermal water is not currently available in the country. Direct thermal water use nowadays is mainly for balneology, space heating and air-conditioning, greenhouse heating, geothermal ground source heat pumps (GSHP), direct thermal water supply, and bottling of potable water and soft drinks. Several applications such as balneology and geothermal ground source heat pumps show more stable development in the current period, while geothermal energy used for heating of buildings and greenhouses has considerably decreased. The update information on hydrothermal fields is based on issued permits and concessions by the state since 2000 and concerns mainly state-owned hydrothermal fields. The current installed capacity amounts to about 85.8 MW (excl. GSHP). A progress has been recently made in the state policy promoting thermal water utilization. According to the latest amendments of the Water Act taxes for thermal water application are considerably reduced, and many state-owned reservoirs are made available for use by the municipalities. V C 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

Preface to Special Issue: Renewable Energy in South-Eastern Europe

“…The territory of Bulgaria is rich in thermal water at temperatures in the range of 20-100 C. 15 Direct thermal water use nowadays is mainly for balneology, space heating and air-conditioning, greenhouse heating, geothermal ground source heat pumps, direct thermal water supply, and bottling of potable water and soft drinks. Despite the fact that geothermal energy used for heating of buildings and greenhouses is not a main concern in Bulgaria, several applications-balneology and geothermal ground source heat pumps, show promise for stable development WIND Power plant electricity production control is very much dependent on the type of power plant.…”

Mineral water bottling in Bulgaria

“…Populations on the territory of present-day Bulgaria have used thermal and mineral waters since ancient times. The conditions and factors for their formation, distribution, qualities and potential uses have been the subject of numerous studies (Dobrev, 1912;Penev, 1927;Azmanov, 1940;Kusitaseva and Melamed, 1958;Shterev, 1964;Petrov et al, 1970;Velinov andBojadgieva, 1981, 1998;Pentcheva et al, 1997;Vladeva et al, 2000;Bojadgieva and Gasharov, 2001;Bojadgieva et al, 2010;Galabov and Stoyanov, 2011;Benderev et al, 2016, Hristov et al, 2019. Despite of the country's relatively small area of approximately 111,000 km 2 , there are 630 springs and wells located in 170 geothermal fields.…”

Geochemistry of thermal springs and associated gases along the Strymon River Valley (Bulgaria and Greece)

“…From the north to the south: i) the Low Danubian Artesian area, which includes the Varna Artesian Basin to the east; ii) the Intermediate zone and iii) the Rila-Rhodope zone. Most thermal waters are used for ludic or therapeutic purposes whereas geothermal power plants were never installed, likely due the presence of low enthalpy systems, as also suggested by the extensive literature on this issue since 1930 (e.g.. Radev, 1930;Petrov, 1964Petrov, , 1973Petrov et al, 1970;Velinov and Bojadgieva, 1981;Hristov, 1993;Hristov et al, 2010;Bojadgieva et al, 2015).…”