TEN.EFZN RESEARCH PLATFORM FOR GEOTHERMAL ENERGY SYSTEMS

The Geoenergy Systems research platform uses an existing geological field site as a case study to demonstrate the use of underground georeservoirs—that is, porous rock formations—for an effective and sustainable energy supply using renewable energy sources. The researchers aim to show that these rock formations, which are widespread in Lower Saxony, can serve as sources and storage for heat and energy carriers (such as hydrogen). In doing so, they also address technical challenges, uncertainties, and risks associated with integrating georeservoirs into the energy system.

Due to its location and geological conditions, Lower Saxony has great potential for developing and utilizing such geoenergy systems on a large scale. The project aims to investigate how existing underground porous formations can be repurposed as hydrogen storage facilities or utilized as geothermal sources or solar thermal storage systems. Minimizing uncertainties is a central challenge in the development of future storage systems for sustainable energy sources. To achieve this goal, petrophysical investigations and laboratory experiments will be conducted on rock samples from subsurface formations to characterize properties and processes that can contribute to a better understanding and optimization for the development of new storage facilities. The determined reservoir properties will be integrated into a developed Shared Earth Model to simulate cyclic, thermal, or material utilization of the subsurface. Numerical simulations will be conducted for flow and transport processes in porous media during underground H2 storage to develop a better understanding of potential uncertainties and to use this for the optimization of future gas storage. The demand for energy or heat storage is expected to exceed the current capacity of underground storage facilities, making the development of new storage sites essential. To this end, existing geological data will be incorporated into well simulations to optimize future drilling operations.