A gigantic rig is gradually drilling up to about 4 kilometres under Flanders’ soil. It’s in search not of oil or gas, but the heat from the water deep below the Earth’s surface. The drilling in Mol, Antwerp province, is the first phase of a pioneering large-scale deep geothermal energy project in Flanders.
The Flemish Institute for Technological Research (Vito) has been preparing the region’s first large-scale deep geothermal energy project for about five years. The researchers first mapped in detail the deep subsurface of the Mol region to a depth of more than 4km, using seismic data obtained using ground impact systems known as thumper trucks. Vito’s prognosis is that hot water will be found at a depth of about 3.5km, at a temperature of more than 120 degrees Celsius/248 degrees Fahrenheit.
