Austria’s Potential for High Temperature ATES

Austria is committed to achieving climate neutrality by 2040, and no later than 2050. Implementing seasonal heat storage can aid in decarbonizing district heating networks (DHNs) by storing excess heat from summer for use during the heating season. High-temperature aquifer thermal energy storage (HT-ATES) provides an affordable and large-scale solution for storing hot water, provided that suitable geological conditions and excess heat for storage are available. This study explores the potential for implementing HT-ATES technology in Austria by identifying sedimentary rock formations suitable for HT-ATES and analyzing spatial datasets, such as the distribution of district heating networks across the country and the corresponding heating demand. To assess the need for seasonal heat storage, operators of Austria’s largest DHNs were consulted. An open-source Python-based tool (FATES) was employed to evaluate subsurface storage performance. After identifying key parameters for each assessed ATES site, a Monte Carlo simulation was conducted to estimate the probability distribution of the heat recovery factor and the heat production during discharge.