| Title | Underground Thermal Energy Storage Opportunities in the Pannonian Basin |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kujbus, A |
| Year | 2016 |
| Conference | European Geothermal Congress |
| Keywords | UTES, storage, interseasonal energy management, Pannonian Basin |
| Abstract | Geothermal technologies are fairly developed and have gained wide experience in the Pannonian Basin in Central-Eastern Europe. However, Underground Thermal Energy Storage (UTES) technologies have not been widely utilized so far. There are two directions of this Borehole Thermal Energy Storage development; shallow and deep storage, with over 300 – 500 meter deep wells. The key idea in both cases includes underground heat storage of the summer surplus or waste heat production, as well as producing and selling the stored heat in winter, during the heating season. This technology will lead to higher flexibility and financial competitiveness concerning the heat service aspect. The main characteristics of UTES in the Pannonian Basin are the following: There are regions with excellent, good and poor geothermal potential in the Pannonian Basin therefore professionals have to be prepared for different geological challenges. Complex hybrid renewable energy technologies are becoming more and more significant in CEE countries. As storage itself does not create energy, UTES is a service in a renewable energy hybrid system; e.g. part of the integration of bio- and geo-energy technologies. Accession to the traditional heating systems is a key question in all sites. In CEE countries the climate is continental. There is a large difference between summer and winter heat demand. UTES basically serves the inter-seasonal energy management as heat storage facility. As regards energy producers and consumers, it is a new approach to create a more competitive complex renewable energy technology. A group of companies, institutions and universities started to investigate the opportunities in CEE countries to demonstrate the feasibility of underground heat storage under different conditions, and to prove its competitiveness. Shallow and deep UTES face different challenges concerning different heat producers, heat markets and geological conditions. Therefore different technological and energetic solutions are needed. While shallow utilization has gathered experience with ground source heat pumps and it is under positioning in energy statistics and policies, deep UTES needs a lot of research, and deep demonstration projects are to be planned. This document reviews the differences between shallow and deep UTES opportunities in the Pannonian Basin and provides the latest results of the research group. |