The paper presents results of geothermal projects carried out in the last 23 years by the interdisciplinary research team at the AGH University of Science and Technology, in cooperation with numerous scientific institutions, published in the form of geothermal atlases in different parts of Poland. For many years, the Department of Fossil Fuels at the Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, AGH University of Science and Technology, has conducted the fundamental research and implementation work, aiming at the selection of optimum areas for utilization of geothermal waters and energy. Over the years, a methodology of estimation of geothermal resources with use of advanced techniques and numerical modeling has been developed. Recapitulation of the studies of the occurrence and utilization of geothermal waters and energy within geological units of the Polish Lowlands, Carpathians and Carpathian Foredeep has been reflected in seven Atlases. The Atlases represent a result of interdisciplinary, constructive cooperation of specialists from various, often remote fields of knowledge, fundamental and technological in nature, including: geologists, geophysicists, hydrogeologists, geochemists, drilling engineers, heat engineers, and many other specialists. The Atlases enable the selection of the most promising areas for utilization of geothermal waters and energy in Poland. The best geothermal conditions are predicted in the Polish Lowlands and Podhale region although in many areas of the Carpathians and the Carpathian Foredeep favorable geothermal conditions also occur.
In the years 2010-2013, anal y sis of rocks that build the sed i men tary cov ers in Po land was car ried out from the point of view of uti li za tion of en ergy ac cu mu lated in Hot Dry Rock -used in En hanced Geo ther mal Sys tems (EGS). As a re sult of a number of an a lyt i cal stud ies, the area sit u ated in the cen tral part of Po land was se lected as one of pro spec tive ar eas for lo ca tion of EGS in sed i men tary rocks. This area en com passes a ma jor part of the Mogilno-£ódŸ Trough, a part of the Kujawy Swell and a small frag ment of the Fore-Sudetic Monocline. The most fa vour able con di tions for de vel op ment of EGS oc cur in the Lower Tri as sic de pos its in the Krooeniewice-Kutno vi cin ity, where they are bur ied to depths greater than 5000 m b.s.l., their thick nesses ex ceeds 1500 m, po ros ity is about 3% and per me abil ity is about 0.02-0.1 mD. In the study area, ther mal char acter iza tion of the for ma tion was car ried out for lo ca tion of the EGS in sed i men tary rocks. The tem per a ture at the top of the Lower Tri as sic res er voir is mod elled in the range of 165-175°C. Char ac ter iza tion of petrophysical pa ram e ters was the ba sis for fur ther mod el ling of EGS uti li za tion in this area.
Thermal waters in Poland occur in several different geothermal regions, but the best parameters for their effective utilisation are connected i.a. with the area of Polish Lowlands. One of the most prospective areas in the central part of Polish Lowlands for managing geothermal waters for various purposes is the area of Mogilno-Łódź Trough. There are currently 2 operating geothermal heating plants and several others in various stages of development. In this area, water with a temperature of 97.5 °C has been documented. The aim of this article is to determine and visualise the potential of geothermal waters of the central Poland (Mogilno-Łódź Trough) by providing the most important, potential geothermal water parameters. It is done by providing maps of potential temperature, mineralization, water outflow capacity, thermal power and physicochemical analysis (mineralization, waters type). The two most prospective geothermal reservoirs-Lower Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous-were analysed. The results of the studies indicate that this area is characterised by very favourable hydrogeological conditions. Geothermal energy utilisation should be connected with Lower Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous reservoirs, but it should be emphasised that a larger energy potential relates to waters from Lower Jurassic reservoir; however, they are characterised by high water mineralisation (up to 170 g/L). Waters of Lower Cretaceous reservoir are characterised by not only lower mineralisation (up to 100 g/L), but also lower temperature (max. 75 °C). The highest temperatures in the Lower Jurassic are recorded in the axial part of the Trough, where, locally, they exceed in the top of formation 100 °C. On the other hand, in edge Trough zones, water temperatures are 30-40 °C. The actual geothermal potential of the area is much higher than currently used. For example, potential discharge of wells is to over 400 m 3 /h in the Lower Cretaceous and up to over 500 m 3 /h in the Lower Jurassic.
The oc cur rence of geo ther mal re sources in Po land re lates to four main hydrogeothermal prov inces: the Pol ish Low lands, the Carpathians, the Carpathian Foredeep and the Sudetes, each char ac terized by dif fer ent geo log i cal con di tions. Rec og ni tion of Po land's geo ther mal po ten tial on a re gional scale is good, yet, in or der to eval u ate the ca pa bil i ties of uti lis ing geo ther mal wa ters tak ing into ac count spe cific lo cal con di tions, a de tailed geo log i cal, hydrogeological and ther mal anal y sis is re quired in each case. Some times, the re sults of this anal y sis pro vide new in sights into the geo log i cal struc ture and hydrogeological con di tions in the re gion of spe cific re sources, and in di cate al ter na tive ap proaches to re source eval u a tion. We sum ma rise the geo log i cal con di tions around geo ther mal wa ter re sources in Po land, and also il lus trate lo cal vari abil ity in se lected hydrogeothermal pa ram e ters in the area of Wioeniowa, lo cated in the Outer Carpathians, and in Poddêbice, a cen tral part of the Pol ish Low lands. Se lected ex am ples of the ef fects of the re search car ried out in these ar eas of Wioeniowa and Poddêbice show sit u a tions where the re sults of mak ing a bore hole can be un pre dict able.
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