THERMAL SCIENCE

International Scientific Journal

UTILIZATION OF GEOTHERMAL SPRINGS AS A RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCE: VRANJSKA BANJA CASE STUDY

ABSTRACT
Despite the significant natural potential, geothermal energy in Serbia has traditionally been used in balneology and recreation, while its share in the country’s total energy balance is almost negligible (0.05%). The present paper deals with The City Municipality of Vranjska Banja as a pioneer in the territory of Serbia in using geothermal energy for heating. The concept and methodology of the present research are directly related to the utilization of geothermal resources for district heating in the Vranjska Banja area. The presented analysis includes: determining the available amount of energy, identifying the energy needs of selected public facilities, and the estimation of investment necessary for energy utilization. A survey, combined with field research, is focused on four public facilities connected to the heating system relying on geothermal sources, as well as on two facilities that should be connected to the system in the next phases. The results show economic, ecological, and technological advantages of using geothermal heating systems, as well as the acceptable price of equipment maintenance. An economic assessment of the transition of one facility from the existing heating system to a system relying on geothermal energy has also been made. The analysis confirms the cost-effectiveness of using geothermal energy and reveals numerous ecological advantages (safe heating, absence of CO2 emission) over other energy sources. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. III 47007]
KEYWORDS
PAPER SUBMITTED: 2019-08-16
PAPER REVISED: 2019-09-06
PAPER ACCEPTED: 2019-09-02
PUBLISHED ONLINE: 2019-10-06
DOI REFERENCE: https://doi.org/10.2298/TSCI190816391D
CITATION EXPORT: view in browser or download as text file
THERMAL SCIENCE YEAR 2019, VOLUME 23, ISSUE Issue 6, PAGES [4083 - 4093]
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© 2024 Society of Thermal Engineers of Serbia. Published by the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International licence