Permission for Geothermal Energy in Virum

Vestforbrænding is Denmark’s largest waste-to-energy company, serving around 1 million residents across 19 municipalities on Zealand. Vestforbrænding has an ambitious district heating expansion plan, Varmeplan 2030, which will enable 39,000 households to convert from gas and oil boilers to district heating. Geothermal energy will be one of the future heat sources supplying Vestforbrænding’s district heating network.

Heat for 10,000 households
The plan is for the geothermal plant in Virum to supply the equivalent of 10,000 households with climate-friendly district heating. Innargi, a company specialized in geothermal energy, will handle drilling the wells as well as establishing and operating the geothermal plant. Vestforbrænding will distribute the heat locally through the district heating network.

2,300-meter-deep wells
In Virum, the plan is to drill down to the Bunter sandstone reservoir, located at approximately 2,300 meters depth, where water with a temperature of about 73 degrees Celsius can be found.

The geothermal water is pumped to the surface, where its heat is extracted and transferred to the district heating network using heat exchangers and heat pumps. The cooled geothermal water is then pumped back into the subsurface for reheating.

Geothermal energy is a stable and local heat source that can help reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and with this permit, the collaboration between Innargi and Vestforbrænding to secure the heat supply of the future is strengthened. The plan is for the first geothermal heat to be delivered to Vestforbrænding’s customers by the end of 2028.