In 1980, a group of geologists set out to investigate the depths of Madrid and I did not speak of the Movebut discover if under its soil there was oil. The black gold fever had reached the Castilian plateau. However, what seemed like a dream of energy self -sufficiency ended up opening the door to unexpected energy. Today, that story continues to be written, but with a turn that nobody anticipated.
The search. One of the first and most serious drilling attempts was the one made by Shell in 1980 in the well known as “El Pradillo-1” where no hydrocarbons were found. At that time the Spanish capital dreamed of becoming an oil city attentive to the prevalence of fossil fuel above other alternatives at that time not yet sufficiently exploited. More than 3,500 meters deep, engineers did not find oil but very valuable data about the subsoil temperature, which gave rise to the exploration of geothermal energy. Thus, They found a geothermal aquifer with temperatures between 70ºC and 90ºC at depths that range between 1,500 and 2,150 meters.
Over the years, More perforations were performed In nearby areas, such as three songs, San Sebastián de los Reyes and Geomadrid-1, where multicapa aquifers found with temperatures to produce geothermal energy. Although exploitation has not yet been developed on a large scale, investigations continue, and this renewable resource is expected to be used in the future as an alternative energy source in Madrid.
Among the pros of this discovery, intrinsic characteristics of this type of clean energy that are based on the use of heat stored in groundwater stand out to generate electricity and for homes.
But why isn’t it exploited? Despite the discovery of a significant geothermal potential in the Madrid subsoil, the exploitation of this energy source has not yet developed on a large scale Due to several factors Among those that include, in the first place, the high cost of initial investigations and perforations, the infrastructure necessary to take advantage of the heat of the subsoil efficiently, such as the construction of geothermal plants and water reinjection systems.
Energy comes from other communities. Madrid only produces 4.8% of the energy it consumes. This fact only represents the urgency that the Autonomous Community should have to resolve the scarce of alternatives to meet its domestic demand. At present, the ranquin between the communities that more depends on the energy of other areas.
If the Madrid region will diversify its energy mix through the use of geothermal energy, not only would it increase its self -sufficiency, but also contribute to a more balanced energy model between the different autonomous communities with economic redundancies throughout the country. In addition, it would lead to rethinking The installation of data centersamong other alternatives, and would reduce Energy generation concentration In certain areas of the country, the pressure on energy transport and distribution infrastructures, which would benefit the entire national energy system by reducing the carbon footprint.
The forecasts. With the progress of drilling technologies and improvements in thermal use systems, such as geothermal heat pumps, Madrid could already be able to begin to take advantage of their geothermal resources more efficiently. This is what the Basque Country has done with Geothermal rings at the university. Another possible alternative is to take an example to Iceland, which has turned geothermal energy at the base of its energy model, representing 66% of the total primary energy consumption of the country.
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