Meeting the demand: geothermal heat supply rates for an urban quarter in Germany

Abstract

Abstract Thermal energy for space heating and for domestic hot water use represents about a third of the overall energy demand in Germany. An alternative to non-renewable energy-based heat supply is the implementation of closed and open shallow geothermal systems, such as horizontal ground source heat pump systems, vertical ground source heat pump (vGSHP) systems and groundwater heat pump systems. Based on existing regulations and local hydrogeological conditions, the optimal site-specific system for heat supply has to be identified. In the presented technical feasibility study, various analytical solutions are tested for an urban quarter before and after building refurbishment. Geothermal heat supply rates are evaluated by providing information on the optimal system and the specific shortcomings. Our results show that standard vGSHP systems are even applicable in older and non-refurbished residential areas with a high heat demand using a borehole heat exchanger with a length of 100 m or in conjunction with multiple boreholes. After refurbishment, all studied shallow geothermal systems are able to cover the lowered heat demand. The presented analysis also demonstrates that ideally, various technological variants of geothermal systems should be evaluated for finding the optimal solution for existing, refurbished and newly developed residential areas.

Keywords

• Ground source heat pump (GSHP)
• Groundwater heat pump (GWHP)
• Borehole heat exchanger (BHE)
• Heat demand
• Refurbishment
• Geothermal potential