Potential utilization of deep geothermal energy in the Vienna Basin
Abstract
The project “Potential utilization of deep geothermal energy in the Vienna Basin” (Geothermal Potential Austria) is designed to survey, evaluate and present the potential exploitability – including environmental and economic aspects – of geothermal resources in the central and northern Vienna Basin on a broad scale as well as to develop two specific and feasible geothermal projects in the investigated region, and thereby to develop (or help to develop) the knowledge foundation necessary for the OMV to set up a supplementary business sector while acting as a regional supplier of renewable energy. The whole complex of themes associated with this task will be approached from a geological and geotechnical as well as energy-related engineering and economical points of view, and presented comprehensively, by an interdisciplinary research group of experts in the various disciplines to be involved. Planning and calculating procedures will be – as far as possible – numerically reconstructed and the results, by means of programming or adapting appropriate software, be integrated in, and represented by, a Geothermal Planning Tool. First analyses with the planning tool shall be performed on real data in the final stages of the project. On the basis of a detailed work plan and with reference to the internationally accumulated experience in the field there will be defined the feasible utilization scenarios and the various technical and economical possibilities of application of geothermal methods in the investigated area. The synthesis of the various results will be completed in a GIS environment and presented in a collection of maps. The execution of this program is facilitated by a thematic division into two modules which result from the infrastructural and developmental boundary conditions: Module 1 – Production Zone deals with the geothermal adaptation of existing hydrocarbon-related infrastructure (wells and pipelines) after abandonment. The legal preconditions of the current practice of well liquidation are presented and critically evaluated with respect to possible geothermal reuse. Module 2 – Exploration Zone focuses on hydrothermal development chances in the area of the “Low Block” of the Vienna Basin. Consequently, the project will focus on the reuse of existing infrastructure and hydrothermal extraction and reinjection, but shall cover the whole range of accessible depths and shall not exclude (at least not from the outset) the possibilities of electricity generation or implementation of HDR technology. The foreseeable development in time will be taken into account both with regard to the future shut-down of wells and on the commercial side (regarding energy demand and energy prices). In the end each module will contain a single applicable geothermal project. For both locations a geothermal power plant will be designed while optimally adapting the predefined possibilities of extracting geothermal energy in the area. The respective reports can be regarded as feasibility studies and will contain a documentation of cost-effectiveness. With regard to the objectives of the OMV Future Energy Fund the project will improve the knowledge base of the client so as to contribute to the development of a commercial energy supply sector in accordance with the principles of sustainability, environmental protection and best practice. Contributing well in advance to lessening the dependence on increasingly limited energy reserves is an additional objective. Geothermic energy in fact has the potential (albeit not the appropriate public support to date) to provide a clean and affordable form of energy for future generations.
keywords Heat exchanger Hydrothermic energy
Publikationen
Der Beitrag der Geothermie
Autoren: Straka, W., Ponweiser, K., Haider, M. Jahr: 2009
Conference & Workshop proceedings, paper, abstract
Nutzungsmöglichkeiten tiefer Geothermie im Wiener Becken (Tiefscholle). Projektphase 1 Nachnutzung vorhandener Kohlenwasserstoff-Infrastruktur
Autoren: Straka, W. et al. Jahr: 2009
Forschungsbericht (extern. Auftraggeber)
Project staff
Wolfgang Straka
Mag. Dr.rer.nat. Wolfgang Straka
wolfgang.straka@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-87215
Project Leader
01.05.2008 - 31.12.2011
BOKU partners
External partners
Geological Survey Vienna
Mag. Gregor Götzl
partner
Wessely Godfried, Prof.Dr.
none
partner
Geotechnik Adam ZT GmbH
Dr. Roman Markiewicz
partner
Schmid Christian, Hon.Prof.DI.Dr.
none
partner
TerraMath Geoscientific Software
Dr. Robert Faber
partner
Technische Universität Wien, Institut für Thermodynamik und Energiewandlung
Prof. Karl Ponweiser
partner
Montanuniversität Leoben, Lehrst. für Prospektion und Angewandte Sedimentologie
Dr. Eva Wegerer
partner