Maren Brehme

ETH Zurich

Exploring new opportunities for geothermal heat storage

The recently funded project BEACH proposes to tackle the challenges of the energy transition with demonstrating a new technology for storing and retrieving energy in the subsurface. The objective is to use fractured geothermal reservoirs, to show that they are suitable for energy storage to compensate for seasonal phases of energy demand surplus. BEACH will showcase the technology at the fully monitored and controlled geothermal reservoir in the Bedretto Underground Laboratory for Geosciences and Geoenergy (BedrettoLab) before rolling out the technology to other sites. The work and findings are closely shared with industry partners to develop a market ready technology. This pilot project will support the energy strategy in long-term by showing the feasibility of geothermal energy storage in fractured crystalline rocks (FTES-fractured thermal energy storage).