On Tuesday, July 4, 2023, participants of the Second International Summer Geothermal School in Ljubljana visited the headquarters of Petrol Geo Ltd. and the abandoned gas well Pg-8, where DEM, Petrol Geo Ltd., the University of Maribor, and GeoZS are testing a pilot geothermal power plant under the Si-Geo-Electricity project. Professor Goričanec from UM FKKT presented the innovative technical design of the electricity generation project from the abandoned hydrocarbon well, while Renata Kevrič highlighted the role of Petrol Geo Ltd. in transitioning from fossil fuel extraction to harnessing deep geothermal energy. On-site, under the guidance of DEM and GeoZS, they observed the status of the power plant’s construction.
This visit was organized as part of the excursion of the summer school on “Advancements in the Development of Geothermal Energy Utilization for Heating, Cooling, and Electricity Production,” which took place from July 3 to 8, 2023. It was jointly organized by the Geological Survey of Slovenia and the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering at the University of Ljubljana, with support from the Icelandic School of Energy in Reykjavik and co-financing from the EEA project INFO-GEOTHERMAL and the COST project Geothermal-DHC. The event hosted ten lecturers from seven countries and 24 participants from 13 countries in Africa, Europe, and North America. The attendees were introduced with the development of new geothermal projects, best practices in research, innovative geothermal energy utilization technologies, and optimization of operations and resource management to minimize the impact on the environment and human beings in a sustainable manner.