The nGEL project kicked off its inaugural webinar on 9 May 2025, titled “An Overview of Geothermal Energy and Next Generation Flexible Trigeneration Geothermal ORC Plant (nGEL) Project”. More than 50 energy professionals gathered to know about the project’s objectives, methodologies, and anticipated outcomes from Dr Shahin Jamali, the coordinator of the nGEL project and the Head of Monitoring and AI at Fraunhofer IEG, and Tuğrul Hazar, the Technical Manager of the nGEL project and R&D, Asst. Manager at Zorlu Enerji, live. The participants also had an opportunity to engage in a Q/A session for deeper insights. Technovative Solutions Ltd, one of the consortium partners of the nGEL project hosted the webinar.
Dr Jamali commenced the webinar with a clear overview of the nGEL project. He presented objectives, mission, and the main challenges in the energy sector along with the potential way out. Dr Jamali explained how the nGEL solutions and innovations are set to make conventional geothermal organic rankine cycle (ORC) plants into flexible trigeneration units. He highlighted the pilot regions chosen for field demonstrations, the goals of demonstrating, and the local community engagement through the piloting to adapt the nGEL solutions.
Dr Jamali also outlined the project’s expected outcomes. First and foremost, nGEL aims to generate power more cost-effectively. Beyond economics, the project promises environmental and societal benefits by lowering carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and influences the EU policy. The nGEL project will also enhance the role of geothermal ORC technology in the context of Europe, along with providing a secure and reliable energy source.
Mr. Tuğrul Hazar covered the technical aspects of the nGEL project in his speech. He introduced the audience to geothermal energy concisely - how the heat from inside of the earth was produced and how the heat can be utilised to generate power for human usage. He reviewed the three main types of geothermal power plants, including dry steam, flash steam, and binary cycle. nGEL is working with the type of binary cycle power plant, or the ORC power plant. Mr Hazar showcased the state of geothermal energy in the context of the EU while explaining why ORC is ideal for Europe in terms of leveraging geothermal energy.
Mr Hazar shed light on the work packages and wrapped up with providing a brief idea of the demonstration cases of the project, using detailed illustrations.
Following the speakers’ session, the webinar offered an open discussion session with the attendees. Dr Jamali and Mr Hazar together responded to the questions and came up with more facts and opinions, few of which include:
- What kind of synergy does this project offer, such as knowledge transfer or joint product development beyond funding? The nGEL consortium will combine knowledge and expertise from each of the actors that the consortium is reaching within the project.
- Is the know-how of the project open to anyone? Yes, the know-how of the nGEL technology will be public. Also, contingent upon the exploitation plan, the consortium may go commercial with the project’s result.
- Will any rare earth material be involved in the project? The nGEL project will avoid using any rare earth elements. The project will use carbon steel, stainless steel, high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and paraffin for piping and equipment. And as phase change materials, the project will use hot storage and paraffin for cold storage. The materials will be used carefully to bypass any harm to the environment.
- Has the project gathered and analysed the real-world data on dynamic power, heating and cooling demands? Yes, the consortium is collecting as much real-world data as possible from both public and private sources on dynamic power, heating and cooling demands to analyse deliberately. Using the analysed data, the nGEL project solutions are developed.
Through this webinar, the attendees learnt the background, objectives, methodologies and expected outcomes of the nGEL project through the speakers’ lively presentations. The live Q&A session additionally addressed the concerns of the audience and ensured providing deeper insights on the project to them.
The recorded webinar can be watched here.
The consortium welcomes any additional questions you may have. Please send your message here.
This project has received funding from the Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON) Research and Innovation Actions under grant agreement No 101148170.