GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

Geothermal energy sources in Albania are estimated as warm water sources of the underground layers of the earth, which have a sufficient temperature to be used as an energy source. The geothermal situation of the Albanides provides two ways for the use of geothermal energy, divided as follows:

• Thermal springs with low enthalpy and maximum temperature up to 80oC. These are natural springs or wells located in a wide territory of Albania, from the south near the Albanian-Greek border to the northeast.
• use of deep vertical wells for geothermal energy, where a large number of abandoned oil and gas wells can be used for heating purposes.

To date, temperatures have been measured in 145 deep wells and shallow wells, as well as in various mines in the country, at different hypsometric levels. The temperature in these wells is recorded at regular intervals measured by resistors and thermo syphon thermometers. In the north-east and in the south-east, about 25 wells have been studied together with 8 thermal water springs which have been chemically analyzed. Despite their study to date this energy has not been utilized due to high costs.

The geothermal regime of geological structures in the territory of Albania is conditioned by the density of heat flux, geothermal gradient and distribution of the temperature at different depths of these sources, closely related to the lithology and tectonics of geological structures, as well as groundwater hydrodynamics. This regime also conditions geothermal energy resources.

Heat flux density is the main parameter that determines geothermal energy reserves. In the center of the Western Lowlands, where the Albanian Sedimentary Basin lies, the heat flux density is 41.3 mW/m2. The isotherm 30 mW/m2 remains open towards the Albanian shelf of the Adriatic Sea. The southern mountainous regions up to the north-eastern regions of the country, where the igneous rock belt lies, are characterized by heat flux density, ranging 40 mW/m2 to 61.8 mW/m2. Hearths with high values of heat flux density are associated with intense heat transfer through deep tectonic ruptures. These ruptures also condition geothermal energy sources. In the Albanian Alps, the heat flux density is very small, at values up to 10 mW/m2.