Mass. city neighborhood to get geothermal heating/cooling system

Enhanced geothermal system 1: Reservoir 2: Pump house 3: Heat exchanger 4: turbine hall 5: Production well 6: Injection well 7: Hot water to district heating 8: Porous sediments 9: Observation well 10: Crystalline bedrock

“Eversource has officially begun a groundbreaking project to implement a one-of-its-kind heating system in a Framingham, Mass., neighborhood. 

“This program is designed to explore whether geothermal networks can be used in combination with, or instead of, traditional energy sources like natural gas or heating oil. To test this, Eversource plans to install and operate a geothermal network in a neighborhood in Framingham, providing indoor heating and cooling to about 150 customers within the one-mile-long loop that pipes 37 buildings (32 residential, five commercial).  

“‘We continue to invest in different kinds of technologies, but that’s not enough,’ said Joe Nolan, the utility’s president and chief executive officer. ‘That’s why we’re so excited to be here today around geothermal. I spend a lot of time on the road, I talk to our investors, I talk to our key decision-makers. This is one of the most exciting opportunities for me to ship now what is going on in geothermal.”’

The Common in Framingham Center

— Photo by Jerem43

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National Grid seeks to convert many Massachusetts customers to geothermal heating

Geothermal drilling machine

Adapted from a New England Council (newenglandcouncil.com) report:

BOSTON

National Grid filed a plan aimed at converting many of Massachusetts’s natural gas customers to geothermal heating, reducing emissions in the process. The aim is to develop four separate shared geothermal networks to tap into the heat under the earth’s surface, without having to replace natural gas pipes.

The five-year demonstration project received initial approval from the administration of Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker in December. Now the state Department of Public Utilities will conduct a full review of National Grid’s implementation plan.

National Grid is hoping to select its first networked geothermal site by early 2023, pending regulatory approval. National Grid is looking to prioritize converting gas customers to geothermal in low-income communities, but no sites have been picked yet.

“National Grid is focused on tackling greenhouse gas emissions reductions across the buildingpheat sector and geothermal is an important component of that plan,” said Caroline Hon, National Grid’s chief operating officer for its New England gas operations.