Potential map Friesland
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In Friesland, they live off water. They sail on it. Swim in it and drink it. But water can also warm them. Friesland wants to fully commit to aquathermal heating - or as they say in Friesland: WaterWarmth. To this end, they are working with governments, cooperatives, companies and educational institutions to make aquathermy really big in Frŷslan. The aim is to have ten thousand homes and businesses connected to wetterwaarmte by 2030. EXTRAQT has been guiding the province on this ambitious mission since 2024. We develop in-depth potential maps that take into account local impacts and complex distribution issues, as well as guiding projects towards the realisation of their project. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
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In Friesland, they live off water. They sail on it. Swim in it and drink it. But water can also warm them. Friesland wants to fully commit to aquathermal heating - or as they say in Friesland: WaterWarmth. To this end, they are working with governments, cooperatives, companies and educational institutions to make aquathermy really big in Frŷslan. The aim is to have ten thousand homes and businesses connected to wetterwaarmte by 2030. EXTRAQT has been guiding the province on this ambitious mission since 2024. We develop in-depth potential maps that take into account local impacts and complex distribution issues, as well as guiding projects towards the realisation of their project. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Theoretical source potential
21 797 GWh
Potential heat suplied
33% of total demand
Projects studied
6 projects
Potential mapped in detail
Earlier studies concluded that at least 60% of Frŷslan can be heated on the basis of aquathermal energy. However, these studies lacked sufficient detail. Mainly, there was no matching between different water bodies and takers at a very local level. In many locations, extensive sources are present but without nearby takers; conversely, there are several locations with many takers but limited adjacent source availability. To know a realistic ‘makeable’ or ‘usable’ potential, we elaborated a new potential study that does take into account a local match between supply and takers. In addition, we also took into account local effects arising in water bodies in this study. In fact, our performed simulations take into account that all customers like to extract their heat at the closest locations in the water, causing critical points to arise more quickly locally.
From our results, Frŷslan is clearly a water-rich province with great aquathermal potential. Our simulations show that Frŷslan possesses about 3.5 more aquathermal potential compared to the total heat demand in the province. However, it is thus the case that much of the heat demand in the province is located in dense zones where source potential may not be as extensive. In addition, there is also a lot of source potential available in locations where there are few customers. This makes it essential to make a link between supply and demand to arrive at a realistic ‘feasible’ or ‘usable’ potential of aquathermy. To determine this feasible potential, the locally available resource potential was divided among adjacent customers, while supplies last. We used distribution keys with different parameters such as distance to the water, heat demand density, energy poverty index, obstructions (railways, roads, infra-ducts), individual/heat grid connection, ... The result is that aquathermal energy can provide 33% of the total heat demand in the province. This is clearly in stark contrast to the 350% of available source potential as indicated earlier. This still means that 1/3rd of the heat needed in Frŷslan can be sustainably generated via aquathermal energy!
During 2025, these results and potential map will be made public in an online viewer by EXTRAQT!
Realisation of projects
EXTRAQT has been fully committed to guiding projects in Friesland towards realisation since 2025. Indeed, the goal is to provide ten thousand customers with wetterwaarmte by 2030! We at EXTRAQT like to put our full energy behind that too! We do this by assisting in numerous matters, for example:
- Developing a well strategy
- Business case for a collective heat network
- Conducting the installation of individual projects on the waterfront
- Local thermal impact analysis
- Licensing studies
- ...
For this implementation, we are also working together with Ekwadraat, a Friesland-based consultancy with a lot of local knowledge! The Dutch party Waterprof is also our partner in this project. They are experts in bringing together the complex governance story around aquathermy and how to push everyone in the right direction that way.
The neighbourhoods in Frŷslan coloured in on the map below can supply at least 75% of their heat demand via aquathermal energy!
Potential mapped in detail
Earlier studies concluded that at least 60% of Frŷslan can be heated on the basis of aquathermal energy. However, these studies lacked sufficient detail. Mainly, there was no matching between different water bodies and takers at a very local level. In many locations, extensive sources are present but without nearby takers; conversely, there are several locations with many takers but limited adjacent source availability. To know a realistic ‘makeable’ or ‘usable’ potential, we elaborated a new potential study that does take into account a local match between supply and takers. In addition, we also took into account local effects arising in water bodies in this study. In fact, our performed simulations take into account that all customers like to extract their heat at the closest locations in the water, causing critical points to arise more quickly locally.
From our results, Frŷslan is clearly a water-rich province with great aquathermal potential. Our simulations show that Frŷslan possesses about 3.5 more aquathermal potential compared to the total heat demand in the province. However, it is thus the case that much of the heat demand in the province is located in dense zones where source potential may not be as extensive. In addition, there is also a lot of source potential available in locations where there are few customers. This makes it essential to make a link between supply and demand to arrive at a realistic ‘feasible’ or ‘usable’ potential of aquathermy. To determine this feasible potential, the locally available resource potential was divided among adjacent customers, while supplies last. We used distribution keys with different parameters such as distance to the water, heat demand density, energy poverty index, obstructions (railways, roads, infra-ducts), individual/heat grid connection, ... The result is that aquathermal energy can provide 33% of the total heat demand in the province. This is clearly in stark contrast to the 350% of available source potential as indicated earlier. This still means that 1/3rd of the heat needed in Frŷslan can be sustainably generated via aquathermal energy!
During 2025, these results and potential map will be made public in an online viewer by EXTRAQT!
Realisation of projects
EXTRAQT has been fully committed to guiding projects in Friesland towards realisation since 2025. Indeed, the goal is to provide ten thousand customers with wetterwaarmte by 2030! We at EXTRAQT like to put our full energy behind that too! We do this by assisting in numerous matters, for example:
- Developing a well strategy
- Business case for a collective heat network
- Conducting the installation of individual projects on the waterfront
- Local thermal impact analysis
- Licensing studies
- ...
For this implementation, we are also working together with Ekwadraat, a Friesland-based consultancy with a lot of local knowledge! The Dutch party Waterprof is also our partner in this project. They are experts in bringing together the complex governance story around aquathermy and how to push everyone in the right direction that way.
The neighbourhoods in Frŷslan coloured in on the map below can supply at least 75% of their heat demand via aquathermal energy!
Potential map Friesland
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Interested in an aquathermal installation? Read more on our approach on why an aquathermal system migh be interesting for your water body!
