Time Frame: 01.09.2020 - 30.09.2023

Funding: BMWK (formerly BMWi)/EU

Principal Investigator: Prof. Dr. Torsten Dahm,  Dr.  Simone Cesca, Dr. Philippe Jousset

Personnel GFZ:  Marius Isken, Dr. Christopher Wollin

Partner: Reykjavik Energy (OR), Iceland - Coordinator; Iceland Geoservice (ISOR); NORSAR, Norway; University of Iceland (UoI); National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), USA; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), USA ; ETHZ; EQINOR Norway; IFP Energies Nouvelle (IFPEN), France

The potential of deep geothermal energy in Europe will only be exploited in the future if demonstrations of energy production from deep geothermal energy are successful. lt is therefore crucial that a procedure is implemented before drilling the next deep well, which minimizes the risk of field exploration. In the DEEPEN project, a holistic "de-risking" approach for deep geothermal energy, which has been established in the oil and gas industry, is pursued. This approach estimates the probability of availability of sufficient volume rates of hot fluids from a convolution of data on the thermal source, reservoir properties and fractures in the reservoir rock. This so-called Play Fairwell Analysis (PFA) links the probabilities of the presence of high temperature, permeability and sufficient capacity in the reservoir rock. The DEEPEN proposal aims to establish the PFA approach in geothermal energy, and in a first step focuses on systems in the bedrock, e.g. in lceland, and the USA. In magmatic and crystalline formations, it is particularly difficult to map and characterize steep faults, which usually represent good reservoir targets. The German project partner concentrates on the verification of innovative methods for the detection and geophysical characterization of fault zones and their implementation in geothermal exploration. As first examples of application, deep boreholes in lceland will be tested in volcanic basement and magmatic systems, as these become accessible by the project consortium. However, the envisaged near-surface techniques and new methods for detection and characterisation of faults are independent of the temperature and type of geothermal anomaly, and can be applied to de-risking in all geothermal projects in Europ