The City Council of Ferrara, Italy has approved a proposal to expand the scope of geothermal heating supplied by the Casaglia geothermal plant. The EUR 23 million project aims to double the output of the Casaglia geothermal plant, thus allowing for the district heating network to be extended by 5.6 kilometers and reduce CO2 emissions by a further 15,000 tons per year.

The proposal was made by Enel Green Power as part of a temporary business association with Gruppo Hera. In 2020, it was reported that Gruppo Hera will be taking over the Casaglia geothermal plant. This was excellent synergy as Gruppo Hera is also managing the district heating service.

The proposal will involve the drilling of an additional production well to supply more geothermal heating. A reinjection well will also be drilled, and work over of the existing Casaglia-1 well will also be done. The goal would be to increase the contribution of geothermal to the district heating system, which is currently only at 40%. The rest of the heat is supplied by a waste-to-heat plant and gas-fired heating plants.

The geothermal industry of Italy continues to seek for government support to end the decade-long drought of new geothermal power stations in the country.