The warm groundwater at greater depths in the subsurface is a sustainable source of energy in the Netherlands. The water, which is at a temperature of 45-120 °C, can be exploited by pumping it out of the aquifers at depths of 1.5 to 4 kilometres. Currently, this source of heat, known as geothermal energy, is used for heating (greenhouses and homes, for example), but in the future it could also be used for industrial processes and to generate electricity.
Regulations
The exploration and production of minerals or geothermal energy in the Netherlands require a permit from the Minister of Economic Affairs. Under the Environmental Licensing Act it is also necessary to hold an environmental permit. For more information, please see the section Legislation and Geothermie.nl. Furthermore the Minister has, due to co-production of oil or gas with water, published a letter.
The innovationprogramme Kas als Energiebron (Greenhouse as Energy source) has put together an extensive roadmap based on experiences of growers and advisors and contains lots of information with regard to the procedures that comes with the different licences.
Licences
An overview of geothermal licences can be found here.
Data
On the page Data Supply information can be found about what kind of data that's gathered during exploring and/or producing earth heat has to be delivered according to the Mining Law.
Specific geothermal related production- and injectiondata can be found here.
TNO has published reports, publications and presentation related to geothermal energy here.