Euronews finds out how one EU-funded project has helped Belgium's capital unlock its geothermal potential.
An increasing number of Brussels' major buildings are turning to heat found deep beneath the ground for their energy supply.
But as authorities look to tap into the region's geothermal potential, engineers are facing serious challenges as a lack of accurate data on the capital's subsoil means it is difficult to work out the size and scale of the geothermal systems.
To address this, the EU-funded Brugeo project has been mapping the geothermal potential of Brussels in order to smooth the transition to this clean and renewable source of energy.
Its project manager, Pierre Gerard, spoke to Smart Regions about the successes and challenges of developing geothermal energy in the Brussels Region.
"Drilling a deep borehole in an urban environment is not easy from an administrative and technical point of view, and so implementing reconnaissance boreholes was another thing that took up a lot of energy in the project.
"Then the second challenge was to develop an online application that’s accessible to all, and which meets the needs of its users.
"We therefore developed the BrugeoTool application, which enables all citizens and all engineering offices, depending on where they are located, to find out about the properties of the subsoil and to provide pre-sizing of geothermal installations
"I think that the Brugeo project has really worked as a lever for the installation of geothermal systems in Brussels. Today, there are about a hundred installations in the Brussels Region and in particular, the deepest layers that were characterised in the framework of this project, have finally been exploited in geothermal projects."