City view, Milan/ Italy (source: flickr/ Dennis Matheson, creative commons)Fri-El Geo has already started work on its Pangea project with which it aims to build geothermal plants to generate heat and power for population centers and industrial areas throughout the country particularly in Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna. Drilling is ongoing for the geothermal heating project in Ostellato, which is expected to generate enough heat to supply the needs of approximately 120,000 homes.
A few months ago, Fri-El Geo announced that it is offering 50% ownership to an investor who will support the company’ s plans of developing medium-enthalpy geothermal projects in Northern Italy.
“This partnership is a concrete, innovative, and effective response to the discussion on the “green homes” directive underway in the European Parliament and Council,” said Ernst Gostner, CEO of Fri-El Geo. The energy savings guidelines of the RePower EU package requires a stop to the installation and use of fossil fuel boilers starting 2029.
“We are investing a lot of resources in geothermal energy and, today that the price of gas is rising, it is even more urgent that the government commits, with adequate incentives, to protecting investors’ risk to make the construction of geothermal plants competitive and extend it,” added Gostner.
Luca Rigoni, CEO of A2A Calore e Servizi, explains that decarbonization of its district heating and cooling networks is one of the main objectives of the company’s strategy. The agreement with Fri-El Geo fits perfectly into this framework. With the agreement signed between the two parties, the road to ecological neutrality by 2050 has started in the Lombardy capital.
