Rising demand for geothermal heating

Geothermal heating has seen a spike in demand since the war in Ukraine broke out and oil prices skyrocketed.

The first residential geothermal heating system was installed in 2008, and the total number of such systems in the Faroes has now reached 859.

“Since the start of the war in Ukraine, we have seen a big increase in demand from households wishing to switch to renewable energy sources such as geothermal heating systems and heat pumps,” says Áki Mortensen, CEO of heating and plumbing firm Hiti.

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But the growing demand for geothermal is meeting limited supply.

“Due to technical restrictions, there has to be a minimum distance of 20 metres between each hole, so we are operating on a first come, first serve basis,” he says.

“There are about 20,000 households in the country. Subtract those that are linked to district heating systems, I would estimate that about 20-25% of the remaining households could get an outdoor geothermal unit.”

A residential geothermal heating system costs about DKK 185,000, according to an estimate by the Environment Agency.

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

More Faroese News in English.