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Today, authorities in the Greek town of Gravena announced a new project for the nearby village of Samarina. The project will see the village square equipped with a geothermal system that is supposed to melt the frequent and heavy snow.
Samarina is one of the mainstay locations for the Greek ski and mountain tourism sectors with its National Ski Centre of Vasilitsa. The geothermal system will be part of a general redevelopment of the central square in the village and a way to guarantee that it will be clear of snowfall at all times.
Samarina is the highest village in Greece at 1,550 meters above sea level. Quite commonly, it is subject to harsh winters and heavy snowfall. Thus, local leaders explain that it is one of the few Greek centres that can make use of a geothermal de-icing system for public spaces.
Additionally, it would help to boost the local tourism offer, as stated by officials in the administrative centre of Gravena. The redevelopment would also expand the square by area, which should also help tourism in the summer months.
According to Gravena Mayor Giorgos Dastamanis, his city has been implementing geothermal energy as part of public building renovation since 2017. The municipality has already spent 6 million euros on renovations.
In turn, this has led to an average of 70% reduction in the cooling and heating costs in the renovated buildings. Apart from costs, these improvements have led to a substantial reduction in the municipality’s energy footprint.
Mayor Dastamanis was quoted in a press statement explaining: “Our goal now is to apply this ecological practice to the central square of Samarina, so that during the winter it is always passable and clean by de-icing its surface with geothermal energy, since the height of the snow reaches up to four meters sometimes.“
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