Roll-out of Deep Geothermal Energy in North-West Europe (DGE-ROLLOUT): Geothermal Energy Potential of Lower Carboniferous Carbonate Rocks

Deep geothermal energy (DGE) may play a crucial role in the future energy production considering its base load capacity and ubiquitous availability. The EU Interreg North-West Europe (NWE) funded project DGE-ROLLOUT aims to promote the hydrothermal potential of Lower Carboniferous carbonate rocks, which is investigated following a multi-disciplinary geoscientific approach.

Besides the Geological Survey of North Rhine-Westphalia as lead partner, project partners include the national geological surveys of Belgium, France and the Netherlands, as well as industry partners (DMT GmbH & Co. KG; Energie Beheer Nederland B.V.; RWE Power AG) and research institutions (Fraunhofer Institution for Energy Infrastructures and Geothermal Systems; Technical University Darmstadt; Flemish Institute for Technological Research). Sub- and associated partners include the national geological surveys of Great Britain and Ireland and the European Geothermal Energy Council, amongst others.

DGE-ROLLOUT comprises three administrative, one investment and three implementation work packages (WP T1-T3): T1 provides a reconciled knowledge baseline for the DGE market development in NWE, including a transnationally harmonised depth and thickness map of the Lower Carboniferous. T2 fills information gaps through the acquisition of 2D seismic surveys, drillings, reprocessing vintage seismic data, and developing 3D subsurface models. T3 increases the efficiency of existing geothermal systems, implementing new or improved production techniques regarding reservoir behaviour, cascading systems and thermal energy storage.

As DGE-ROLLOUT comes to an end in October 2023, we are keen on presenting our final results and evaluating the extent to which we succeeded in promoting the DGE potential of Lower Carboniferous carbonate rocks in NWE.