Novoli in Florence, Italy eyes geothermal district heating

Florence: The district of Novoli aims to the first geothermal district in Florence, Italy with a proposal build a geothermal heating plant in the San Donato area.

Novoli aims to be the first geothermal district in the Tuscan capital of Florence in Italy. The proposal was discussed by the EWA Foundation during a meeting on “Low-enthalpy geothermal energy : Geothermal exploitation for the production of heat and refrigeration” which took place at Earth Technology Expo at the Fortezza de Basso.

The proposal is to build a geothermal heating plant in the San Donato area, which will serve the nearby areas. This neighborhood was selected as it has as it represents a “city within a city” as described by Valeria Rondoni of EWA. Rondoni further explains that it is an area with nearby public services and offices, supermarket, a university, a shopping centre, and a park.

“It would involve digging 100 meters underground and then, through an underground distribution, reaching the surrounding buildings: Tuscany Region, Esselunga, Palace of Justice, San Donato Centre, University and beyond. Private buildings could also be included in this energy community, given that it is a public-private project,” further added Rondoni.

“With Larderello we have taught geothermal energy to the whole world. Now we need to work to exploit new technologies in the name of respecting the environment.”

The example of geothermal district heating in Paris, France was mentioned repeatedly during the presentation of the proposal. Like Paris, the Novoli project can start as the flagship of the new geothermal planning at a national level and can be a innovative mode for other cities and districts to replicate.

“Geothermal energy is also urban redevelopment. It means no longer installing external air conditioner units or boilers on the walls of homes, it means having cleaner air, it means responding to the European objectives of the 2030 Agenda for which we should reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by that date”, said Renato Papale of the Italian Geothermal Union (UGI).