Researchers investigate pioneering approaches to petrothermal geothermal projects in the ZoKrateS project - first results published

Together with the Ruhr-University Bochum and the Technical University of Munich, G.E.O.S. researchers have published first results from the current research project ZoKrateS. In the journal "Geomechanics and Tunnelling 1/2022", first analytical results of rock stimulation are presented. This is a possibility to increase the conductivity of low-permeability rock without fracking the rock and thus to enable deep geothermal utilisation even in areas that have not been suitable so far.

The investigations were carried out on an existing, non-producing geothermal well in the Geretsried permit field in the foothills of the northern Alps. In the process, so-called proppants were placed into the formation at high pressure to open up existing fractures, to keep them open and to increase permeability in the long term as well.

G.E.O.S. has been working on the BMWK-funded ZoKrateS research project since 2020 together with its partners Ruhr-Universität Bochum (coordinator), Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics, Enex Geothermieprojekt Geretsried Nord GmbH & Co. KG and Geothermie Neubrandenburg GmbH.

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