DemoStorage - an ATES demonstrator in an urban environment.

Aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) is comparatively rarely used in Germany, in contrast to neighboring countries such as the Netherlands. This also applies to lower temperature ranges of less than 50 °C, which are mostly technically easier to handle than high-temperature storage. Since there is a lack of demonstration plants nationally, the goal of our BMBF-funded joint project “DemoSpeicher” (Development and Monitoring of Seasonal Heat and Cold Storage for the Demonstration of Aquifer Storage) is to implement and scientifically accompany a near-surface low-temperature aquifer storage system (NT-ATES). Within the scope of the project, the entire construction cycle of an NT-ATES is to be covered, which ranges from design and planning to grid integration and commissioning to thermal energy supply. An urban site in Germanys capital Berlin-Mitte was selected for the implementation of the demonstration plant, which is to be converted to climate-friendly heating and cooling concepts at an existing construction site. In addition to the necessary preliminary site investigations for the technical-economic feasibility, questions regarding legal approval requirements will also be presented.

For this reason, a extensive monitoring program is planned, which provides the metrological supervision of the thermal-hydraulic underground processes. Another focus of the project will be possible changes in groundwater chemistry and temperature-sensitive groundwater ecology as a result of thermal loading. Monitoring of energy flows is also planned in order to estimate the thermal energy exchange between the aquifer reservoir and the building's systems engineering. This will include a heating and cooling demand analysis, as well as an assessment of potential synergistic use effects with other technologies that could be used, for example, for thermal loading of aquifer storage. All results will be presented in a coupled thermal-hydraulic modeling of the planned thermal energy storage. The project and the first results of the implementation of an ATES in a densely populated urban area will be presented and discussed in this presentation.