Integrating deep, medium and shallow geothermal energy into district heating and cooling system as an energy transition approach for the Göttingen University Campus

A subsurface exploration strategy of geothermal energy utilization for district heating and cooling system for the Göttingen campus in Germany – a demo site of the EU-Horizon 2020 project MEET – is presented. Preliminary geological investigations, including seismic profiles, are conducted, and the results demonstrate that the Göttingen geothermal project might be able to utilize two target horizons: the Variscan basement for a deep Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) and the Zechstein salt layers for a medium deep underground thermal energy storage (UTES). Additionally, water-saturated sediments can be considered as a shallow geothermal system. In result, a possible concept of future district heating and cooling system for the Göttingen University campus based on multi-faceted geothermal system is suggested, and the key modules to accomplish it are identified. The current level of knowledge about the geological setting in Göttingen is still insufficient to suggest an economic exploitation strategy including reservoir stimulation actions. Therefore, the next step is to get financing for drilling a research well and to conduct subsequent investigations and experiments. If the considered geothermal system can be developed for the Göttingen demo site, an enormous geothermal potential can be exploited within Europe following the Göttingen example.