EGU24-16554, updated on 09 Mar 2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-16554
EGU General Assembly 2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Current research on Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage in Germany

Kathrin Menberg1, Ruben Stemmle1, Sebastian Bauer2, Peter Bayer3, Guido Blöcher4, Stefan Kranz4, Clemens Felsmann5, Florian Hahn6, Haibing Shao7, Kai Zosseder8, and Philipp Blum1
Kathrin Menberg et al.
  • 1Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute of Applied Geosciences, Karlsruhe, Germany (menberg@kit.edu)
  • 2Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, Institute of Geosciences, Kiel, Germany (sebastian.bauer@ifg.uni-kiel.de)
  • 3University of Halle-Wittenberg, Department of Applied Geology, Halle (Saale), Germany (peter.bayer@geo.uni-halle.de)
  • 4GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany (bloech@gfz-potsdam.de, kranz@gfz-potsdam.de)
  • 5TU Dresden, Institute of Power Engineering, Dresden, Germany (clemens.felsmann@tu-dresden.de)
  • 6Fraunhofer IEG, Institution for Energy Infrastructures and Geothermal Systems, Bochum, Germany (florian.hahn@ieg.fraunhofer.de)
  • 7Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Environmental Informatics, Leipzig, Germany (haibing.shao@ufz.de)
  • 8Technical University of Munich, Geothermal Energy Group, Munich, Germany (kai.zosseder@tum.de)

Around 30 % of Germany's final energy consumption can be attributed to heating and cooling in the building sector. Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) allows sustainable and climate-friendly space heating and cooling and is therefore a promising technology that can contribute to decarbonizing this sector. However, further research on ATES is needed to promote the so far limited application of this technology in Germany and other countries. This work therefore gives an overview of current ATES research sites and projects in Germany collected in the project ‘SpeicherCity’. Among other aspects, these projects address hydrogeochemical challenges, potential studies and the integration of ATES into existing energy systems. They include both low-temperature (LT) and high-temperature (HT) ATES systems. This review also provides details on reservoir characteristics and well designs of the individual sites as well as information on the research goals and methods. Based on the comprehensive German research activities on ATES compiled in this work, lessons learned from the research findings and experiences with ATES operation and permission are highlighted.

How to cite: Menberg, K., Stemmle, R., Bauer, S., Bayer, P., Blöcher, G., Kranz, S., Felsmann, C., Hahn, F., Shao, H., Zosseder, K., and Blum, P.: Current research on Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage in Germany, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-16554, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-16554, 2024.