Follower site for Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES).

The Litoměřice test site is a research infrastructure (RINGEN – Research Infrastructure for Geothermal ENergy) in Czechia focused on geothermal heat extraction and storage. In PUSH-IT, pilot wells for future Borehole Thermal Energy Storage system will be developed. We aim to do the following:

• Drill one exploratory cored well to 550 metres depth to characterise the rocks of the future BTES fields.
• Drill one hydrogeological well to 200 metres depth to evaluate hydrogeological conditions of the main aquifer in the area.
• Store the heat from various energy-producing technologies on the surface (solar thermal panels, photovoltaics, waste heat from hydrogen electrolyser, etc.) into the rocks down to circa 500 metres depth.
• In the future provide heat from underground to the district heating system of the Litoměřice town.

Project details

• Location: Former army barracks, Litoměřice
• Energy infrastructure:
  • District heating network that supplies Litoměřice town. For the grid connection, a smart network controller and plate heat exchanger will be designed within the new EU funded project SYNERGYS – systems for energy synergies.
• BTES heat source:
  • The site offers an interesting and unique opportunity to develop a series of heat sources such as solar thermal and hybrid PV panels, co-generation units, hydrogen electrolyser and Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) unit all concentrated in one place.
• Objectives of the demo site:
  • Drill one exploratory cored well to 550 m to gain proper knowledge of the target geological situation and rock properties and later turn this well into a monitoring well equipped with thermal sensors.
  • Use the obtained properties of rock environment in numerical models, co-simulation of surface energy flows and the underground response following the Darmstadt BTES demo site.
  • Drill one hydrogeological well to circa 200 m for groundwater sampling, execution of pump tests and long-term monitoring to increase knowledge on hydrogeological conditions influencing BTES design and efficiency.
  • Develop a tailored-made design of the future systemic BTES arrays in 100, 200 and 500 m storing excess heat coming from various renewable and alternative resources (see energy concept diagram).
• Status:
  • At the RINGEN Research Center, drilling of the 550 meter full cored pilot borehole started in January 2024. Drilling had to stop three months later due to the collapse of sedimentary aquifer layers. At the beginning of October a new tendering process started so that the drilling can restart at the end of the year 2024.
  • In the meantime, a cement log was taken in one of the monitoring holes to assess the suitability of the hole for a thermal response test. Thermal conductivity was measured on the core from the collapsed borehole.