2. Acknowledgements, Danish Environmental Protection Agency

Geothermal Energy Systems Assessment - A Strategic Assessment of Technical, Environmental, Institutional and Economic Potentials in Central and Eastern European Countries

2. Acknowledgements

This report is the result of an extensive endeavour, stretching in geography and time across Central and Eastern Europe through most of 2001. Prior to writing up the report, Kvistgaard Consult has had the pleasure of interacting with more than a hundred individuals and institutions who work with geothermal energy in different capacities; from local engineers on the ground through civil servants to international bankers. We have met great enthusiasm everywhere and each of our many collaborators have kindly extended their assistance to provide us with information and collaboration.

Our sincere thanks goes to all of our collaborators. In particular, however, we would like to thank those who made a special contribution to make this study a successful endeavour. This also apply to contributions to make the International Workshop on the Future of Geothermal Energy in the CEECs, held in Copenhagen in October 2001, an extraordinary event.

From Bulgaria, we wish to thank Mr. Kolio Kolev, Director, State Energy Efficiency Agency, and Mr. Michail Konstantinov Bulgarenski, Electrical Engineer and Chairman of the State Agency for Energy and Energy Resources, for their contribution to the workshop and their strong interest taken in possibilities for joint collaboration.

From the Czech Republic, we wish to thank Mr. Martin Salvet, Ministry of Environment, Mr. Jiri Beranovsky, Managing Director of EkoWATT, Ms. Jana Szomolanyiova, Policy analyst, the Energy Efficiency Centre, and last but not least, Mr. Michal Stibitz, Executive Manager of GEOMEDIA Ltd.

We are grateful to Mr. Astrids Freimanis, Project Manager, Oil and Gas Ltd., Latvia, and Mr. Audrius Bilys, Chief Specialist, Ministry of Economy, Energy Department, Lithuania, both of whom found time to participate in our workshop. From Lithuania we also owe thanks to Mr. Vytautas Kropas, Project Manager and Mr. Alfonsas Bickus, Plant Manager, from UAB Geoterma, and from Klaipéda District Heating Company (Klaipédos Energija), Mr. Vytautis Valutis, General Director, and Mr. Juozas Kregzdys, Deputy General Director, who all presented and provided valuable information on the Klaipéda Geothermal Demonstration Project. Also thanks to Mr. Antanas Balsys, Director of Energy and Infrastructure Unit, Klaipéda Municipality, and Mr. Vidas Karolis, Vice-Governor, Klaipéda County Govenor's Administration.

Mr. Gabor Szita, Manager of Porcio Ltd. in Hungary and Mr. Miklos Arpasi of the Hungarian Geothermal Association kindly provided us with useful information on the Hungarian geothermal sector. We are grateful for that.

From Poland, we owe a special thank to Mr. Piotr Dlugosz, Managing Director, PEC Geotermia Podhalanska SA, for his contribution to this study, both during the project visit in Zakopane and at the workshop in Copenhagen. We are grateful also to Ms. Beata Kepinska and Dr. Wieslaw Bujakowski from the Geothermal Laboratory of the Polish Academy of Science, for their assistance in the planning of our visit to Poland and for providing valuable information during the project period. Thanks also to Mr. Marek Balcer, President, Geotermia Mazawiecka S.A. and Mr. Józef Grzegorz Kurek, Mayor of Mszczonów, for the invitation to visit the Mszczonów Geothermal Project, and to Mr. Marcin Pawlak, Councillor of the Malopolskie Voivodeship, for taken time to present and discuss future geothermal prospects for his region. Finally, we want to thank Mr. Henryk Jezierski, Director Dept. Of Geology, Ministry of Environment, and Mr. Romuald Gronkiewicz, Director, National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, for their contributions.

From Romania, we are particularly grateful to Mr. Ioan Cohut, President of Romanian Geothermal Association and to Mr. Miklos Antics, Technical Manager, Geofluid SA, for their contributions and support during our visit to Romania as well as at the workshop in Copenhagen. Thanks also to Ms. Maria Stratulat, President; Ms. Magdalena Stoia, Director, and Mr. Radu Vasile Miron Avram, Scientist, all from the National Agency for Mineral Resources, for their highly appreciated assistance and support, and to Mr. Marcel Rosca, from the University of Oradea and Dr. Serban Velicio, Scientific Director, Geological Survey, for providing information and inputs. Likewise, we will like to thank Mr. Augustin Dudas, Chief Inspector, Bihor County, Ministry for Environmental Protection; Mr. Aurel Tarau, Prefect of Bihor County; Mr. Kapy Stefan, Vice Mayor; Mr. Constantin Jurca, Vice Mayor, and Mr. Emilian G. Sala, Financial/Economic Director, from the Municipality of Oradea as well as Mr. Odobasianu Nicu Silviu, Mayor, and Mr. Iuhas Viorel, Vice Mayor, from the town of Beius, for taking time to discuss issues of relevance for this study. Finally, we want to thank Mr. Gheorghe Calburean, Chairman, Dafora Group; Mr. Iacobescu Alin, Director General, TRANSGEX, as well as Mr. Mihail Smarandescu, President, and Mr. Mihai Sarbulesco, Chief Engineer, from FORADEX for their support and providing of information.

From Russia, Dr. Marina Martynova, acting Chief Executive Officer and geothermal expert Mr. Yuri Fedorov of the Energy Carbon Facility, Russian Joint Stock Company, extended their kind collaboration, and for that we are grateful. We also greatly appreciate the assistance from Dr. Michael Saparov from the Centre for Preparation and Implementation of International Projects on Technical Assistance, for providing us with valuable insights, both in Moscow and during the workshop in Copenhagen. Dr. Prof. Alexey M. Mastepanov, Department of Strategic Development, and Mr. Gennady Alexandrovitch Pavlov, Department of Research and Development, both from the Ministry Of Fuel And Energy Of Russian Federation, kindly shared with us their expertise on the overall situation, regarding renewable energy in Russia. Mr. Igor Zhokin, expert from the Trade Representation Of The Russian Federation in Denmark took time from his busy schedule to visit our workshop. Mr. Vladimir Kabakov, Marketing Department of the Power Engineering Institute, Moscow, kindly assisted us with excellent interpretation. Finally Dr. Grigory Tomarov, General Director, SC Geotherm-M, Moscow, shared with us information on the geothermal activities of that company.

From Slovakia, we are grateful for the constructive and kind collaboration extended to us by Dr. Marian Fendek, Geological Survey of the Slovak Republic, and Dr. Vladimir Hecl, Energy Centre, Bratislava. In addition, independent expert Mr. Juraj Franco, Mr. Stefan Grell, Director (Galantaterm), Ms. Andrea Vranovska, Mr. Oldrich Vana and Mr. Vladimir Drozd of Slovgeoterm, as well as Mr. Miroslav Kucera, Director General and Mr. Martin Bella, Project Manager (International Activities Department) of the Ministry of Economy, were all very helpful assisting our mission in Slovakia. Last, but not least, Mr. Thomas H. Owen, Senior Coordinator and Policy Adviser, and Mr. Michal Deraj, Local Project Coordinator for Slovakia, contributed their time to and shared their expertise with, the mission.

From Ukraine, we would like to acknowledge the support provided to this study by the Director, Mr. Anatoly Dolinsky, and his personnel at the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics (IET) of the Ukrainian Academy of Science. Special thanks go to Mr. Anatoly Shurchkov, Head of Department of Geothermal Heat Utilization, IET, and to Mr. Georgy Zabarny, Head of Department of Geothermal Heat Technology and Extraction, IET, for their personal involvement and collaboration both by our visit to Kiev and by the workshop in Copenhagen. We are also grateful to Mr. Mykhailo Khvodrov, Head of Department, Ministry of Science, and to Mr. Vyacheslav Botvynov, Head of Department for Science and Technology, Ministry of Science, for providing valuable contributions. From the Ministry of Environment, we will like to thank Mr. Pyotr Blinov, Chief of Department of Natural Resources and Ms. Olga Stepanova, Vice-head, Department of International Affairs, for fruitful discussions and from the Ministry of Fuel and Power Engineering, Mr. Juliy Kutsan, Chief of Department for Ecologic and Technical Policy, has contributed to the study. Finally, we appreciate the inputs provided by Mr. Stepan A. Kudrya, Director, Department of Renewable Energy Development, Ministry of Industrial Policy, and Mr. Lev S Dulnev, Deputy General Director, Windenergo ltd, as well as by Mr. Yury Miroshnichenko, Operations Officer, Energy Sector, World Bank Office in Kiev.

From the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Mr. John Irving, Senior Engineer and Banker, made several contributions to the project and the workshop, generously sharing network information. From the European Investment Bank (EIB), Mr. Gunter Westermann, Head of Department for Energy, Telecoms and Waste Management, assisted and contributed to make the workshop an endeavour. We also wish to recognize the visionary and active contributions provided at the workshop by the representative from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Network, Mr. Frank Rittner, General Manager, and we would like to extend the same recognition to Dr. Ladislaus Rybach, Executive Committee Chairman of the International Energy Agency (IEA) / Geothermal Implementing Agreement (GIA) - Executive Committee, for his valuable support and inputs.

From The Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) and the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB), Mr. Husamuddin Ahmadzai, Special Adviser, shared several innovative ideas with us during the various workshop sessions. Thanks also to Mr. John Lund from Oregon Institute of Technology who has contributed throughout the process and at the workshop. From The Danish Investment Fund for Central And Eastern Europe (IØ), Ms. Lisbeth Erlands, Investment Officer, and Mr. Michael Wedel Sørensen, Environmental Adviser, advised the projects on the IØ portfolio and participated in the workshop. Ms. Lisbeth Blumensaat, Senior Underwriter in the Danish State Export Credit Agency (EKF), also took time to participate in the workshop.

From DEPA, special thanks goes to Mr. Karsten Skov, Deputy Director General, for his strong commitment with regard to following the Project and participating in the workshop. Mr. Skov gave DEPA a pivotal role during the workshop in October and his enthusiasm, day and evening, helped make that event a success. So did the strong commitment from the DANCEE programme's former "Mr. Geothermal" Mr. Lars Isager Hedegaard (now Ramboll) as well as from the current "Mr. Geothermal" Mr. Erik Tang. Finally, from DANCEE, we wish to thank Ms. Ulla Blatt Bendtsen, Programme Coordinator for Russia, for valuable guidance, and for taking time to participate in the workshop. Thanks also to Mr. Christian Peter Ibsen for participating in the workshop.

Kvistgaard Consult has been assisted by a "Sparring group" comprising Danish experts from the private sector. From Houe & Olsen, we wish to thank Mr. Asger Reinhardt Goth and Mr. Lars Toft Hansen for all their advice, comments, insights and other helpful hints shared with us during the project. From DONG, we will like to thank Mr. Allan Mahler and Mr. Hans Øbro. Finally, we benefited from having a representative of the Danish Energy Agency in the group, Mr. Flemming Ole Rasmussen.

Finally, while truly grateful for advice and information received from this wide range of individuals and institutions, we wish to emphasize that the responsibility for the information included and views expressed in this study rests solely with Kvistgaard Consult.