| Title | Potential Study for Future Heat Supply in NRW (G): Geothermal potential analyses for greenfield exploration areas |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bussmann, Gregor, Benoit, Laureen |
| Year | 2026 |
| Conference | World Geothermal Congress |
| Keywords | |
| Abstract | With the potential study on the future heat supply in NRW (in short: NRW heat study), the State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection NRW has compiled a comprehensive study on the heat transition in North Rhine-Westphalia on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy. Among others, in this study, a state-wide quantitative assessment of the medium and deep hydrothermal potential for NRW was carried out for the first time. NRW is currently classified as a greenfield exploration area. Geothermal exploration in NRW currently focuses on carbonate reservoirs, among others the Carboniferous ‘Kohlenkalk’ and Devonian ‘Massenkalk’. Stochastic geothermal doublet power calculations for a spatial grid were used to determine the potential for medium-depth geothermal energy up to 1.5 km deep and deep geothermal energy from 1.5 km to 5 km deep. To address the sensitivity of the choice of method, the findings of the study are compared to a different method, that uses volume-dependent geothermal potential estimates using heat-in-place calculations. In conclusion, both methods show great geothermal potential in similar regions with greater reservoir depths and / or higher reservoir thicknesses, with differences in the sequence of the most promising regions. These findings emphasize the significance of comprehending the dependencies of a geothermal potential assessment method, as this understanding will ultimately contribute to the interpretation of results for decision making on further development steps. |