Energy is an essential element of development in the European Union, and the instability of international energy markets and the tendency of monopolization of hydrocarbon resources by a small group of owners, has led to a shift in European policies towards the development of energy production capacities from renewable resources available in Europe, as well as the implementation of policies for saving and adequate management of existing resources.
With Romania’s accession to the EU, through the transposition of the acquis communautaire, Romania has accepted and adopted new laws and standards on environmental quality. The implementation of the European directives represents a radical change in national policies and in the way of approaching environmental issues, a change which implies substantial and long-term investment costs. In this context, local public authorities are becoming a key player in addressing and solving the specific environmental problems faced by their own communities, as well as meeting the needs of the community by providing public services at a higher quality level.
The city of Oradea has a geothermal water reservoir in the subsoil of the city, which was identified between 1963-1964 and then geologically and hydrodynamically investigated between 1965-1988. It is currently exploited by 14 wells located on the territory of Oradea. From the annual amount recovered, 49 000 Gcal/year were used for the district heating system in 2023. The estimate of available geothermal water resources amounts to about 200,000 Gcal/year according to experts in the field.
In this context, the municipality of Oradea has taken the decision to invest, modernize and bring the centralized heat supply system to a higher quality level, while aiming to improve the public heating service offered to consumers. Given that the existence and proper functioning of the heating system depends on the existence and proper functioning of the heating system to ensure domestic hot water and thermal comfort during the cold season for about 70% of the city’s population, the full rehabilitation of the city’s centralized heat supply system is a strategic option, both by integrating renewable energy sources (geothermal water) into the production component, improving and making more efficient the way in which this energy is managed in terms of energy efficiency and by increasing the degree of operational safety of all components of the system. At the same time, the investments targeting the centralized system as a whole will have the effect of reducing losses in the networks, decreasing the consumption of fossil fuels and increasing energy efficiency, thus contributing to the reduction of pollutant emissions into the atmosphere.
Regarding renewable energy, one of the strategic objectives of the Municipality of Oradea is to increase the use of local geothermal renewable energy resources for the preparation of heating and hot water for heating and hot water as well as the realization of new thermal energy production capacities in the SACET Oradea centralized district heating system.