A new geothermal pilot plant has been opened in the small township of Järva County in Roosna-Alliku, Estonia. The pilot project draws heat from a field of boreholes, each drilled to slightly over 500 meters depth, and supplies it to the district heating network.

The project was carried out in collaboration with the Geological Survey of Estonia (EGT) , Engineering Bureau STEIGER , TJHooldus OÜ, the local government, and with funding from the Ministry of Climate of Estonia.

The Roosna-Alliku geothermal pilot project is part of the wider GEOENEST initiative by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and implemented by the EGT. The goal of GEOENEST is to assess the potential of geothermal energy as a source for district heating solutions through several pilot solutions, each significantly different from the others.

Earlier this year, another pilot project under GEOENEST started operations in the Tiskre sub-district in Tallinn, which has successfully started supplying clean and sustainable heat to nearby apartment buildings. A third project planned under the program aims to supply heating and cooling from a 700 meter borehole, which will be the deepest geothermal borehole drilled in Estonia.