Current R&D-Projects

Half of the non-renewable share of total final energy consumption in Austria corresponds to the heating and cooling sector. District heating networks play a central role in the future decarbonisation of the heating sector by enabling the integration of locally available alternative energy sources (e.g. waste heat from industry and commerce, waste water, geothermal and solar thermal energy) with a simultaneous efficient operation of the infrastructure. In this context, the integration of seasonal heat storages is required due to the temporal mismatch between the supply of alternative energy and the demand for heating and cooling. From a technological point of view, only large-scale pit thermal energy storages (flagship project GigaTES) and/or aquifer thermal energy storages (ATES) can be considered. ATES systems are neither technologically nor commercially established at the moment in Austria (e.g. in cities with district heating networks) and most other EU countries. The biggest advantage of this type of storage technology is the extremely low surface area requirement and therefore its suitability for urban areas. The ATES Vienna project addresses the integration of aquifer thermal energy storages into district heating networks with the aim of designing the first pilot ATES project in Austria. In addition, an identification and characterisation of existing resources, their economic evaluation and the development of adequate regulatory framework conditions will be carried out.

This is the first project in Austria and Central Europe to explore the potential of geological ATES utilization for district heating applications. The results of this project support the establishment of a roadmap for a future heat supply in urban areas based on alternative energy sources in Austria.

Geo5 GmbH is responsible for the geological interpretation and the petrophysics. The aim is to identify suitable rocks and localities for the drilling of geothermal wells.