Deep geothermal energy in the Lower Carboniferous 					carbonates of the Campine Basin, northern Belgium: An overview from the 1950’s 					to 2020

Broothaers, Matsen; Lagrou, David; Laenen, Ben; Harcouët-Menou, Virginie; Vos, Dries

doi:10.1127/zdgg/2021/0285

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Fault and fracture properties. Fracture aperture, based on FMI logs in the Dinantian carbonates, were approximately 110 μm (Broothaers et al, 2019;Van Leverink & Geel, 2019). Assuming this fracture aperture to be equivalent to the hydraulic aperture, the cubic law yields a fracture permeability of 1000 mD.…”

Section: Rock Matrix Fault and Fluid Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermo-hydro-mechanical simulation of cooling-induced fault reactivation in Dutch geothermal reservoirs

Mathur,

Hofmann,

Cacace

et al. 2024

Netherlands Journal of Geosciences

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Geothermal energy is one of the most viable sources of renewable heat. However, the potential risk of induced seismicity associated with geothermal operations may slow down the growth of the geothermal sector. Previous research has led to significant progress in understanding fluid-injection-induced seismicity in geothermal reservoirs. However, an in-depth assessment of thermal effects on the seismic risk was generally considered to be of secondary importance. This study aims to investigate the relative influence of temperature and key geological and operational parameters on the slip tendency of pre-existing faults. This is done through coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical simulations of the injection and production processes in synthetic geothermal reservoir models of the most utilized and potentially exploitable Dutch geothermal reservoir formations: Slochteren sandstone, Delft sandstone and Dinantian limestone. In our study, changes in the slip tendency of a fault can largely be attributed to thermo-elastic effects, which confirms the findings of recent studies linking thermal stresses to induced seismicity. While the direct pore pressure effect on slip tendency tends to dominate over the early phase of the operations, once pore pressure equilibrium is established in a doublet system, it is the additional stress change associated with the growing cold-water front around the injection well that has the greatest influence. Therefore, the most significant increase in the slip tendency was observed when this low-temperature front reached the fault zone. The distance between an injection well and a pre-existing fault thus plays a pivotal role in determining the mechanical stability of a fault. A careful selection of a suitable target formation together with an appropriate planning of the operational parameters is also crucial to mitigate the risk of induced seismicity. Besides the well-known relevance of the in situ stress field and local fault geometry, rock-mechanical properties and operation conditions exert a major influence on induced stress changes and therefore on the fault (re)activation potential during geothermal operations.

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Section: Rock Matrix Fault and Fluid Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermo-hydro-mechanical simulation of cooling-induced fault reactivation in Dutch geothermal reservoirs

Mathur,

Hofmann,

Cacace

et al. 2024

Netherlands Journal of Geosciences

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“…Unfortunately, operations of the Dutch doublets have been terminated, in one case due to the occurrence of seismic events (Muntendam-Bos et al, 2022; Vörös & Baisch, 2022). Just south of the Dutch border, the same carbonates are targeted at Balmatt, near Mol in Belgium (Broothaers et al, 2021). Here also, seismic events up to M L 2.2 occurred, which could be felt in the villages nearby (Kinscher et al, 2023).…”

Section: Review Of Geological and Operational Characteristics Of Hydr...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, the initial stress is higher and stress changes can propagate to high stress regions through the fracture network, but also the rock types itself are likely to promote larger stress changes and seismic slip (see 9.4.2). Also at several sites, abroad similar geothermal operations through balanced circulation in carbonates have led to M 2-3 events (Broothaers et al, 2021;Seithel et al, 2019).…”

Section: Differences Between Hydrocarbon and Geothermal Operations An...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of hydrocarbon and geothermal energy production in the Netherlands: reservoir characteristics, pressure and temperature changes, and implications for fault reactivation

Buijze¹,

Veldkamp²,

Wassing³

2023

Netherlands Journal of Geosciences

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The Netherlands is in the midst of an energy transition with hydrocarbon production gradually declining, whereas the role of sustainable energy technologies is on the rise. One of these technologies is geothermal energy production from porous reservoirs at 1.5–3 km depth. As the number of geothermal projects increases, there is a growing concern that felt and/or damaging induced seismic events could occur as a result of geothermal operations. Over the last two decades, such events have occurred in the Netherlands due to gas production, notably in the Groningen gas field. However, the occurrence of felt events is limited to hydrocarbon fields in certain regions or reservoirs. Understanding where and for which plays these events are observed helps to estimate seismogenic potential for geothermal operations and other sustainable subsurface activities. Here, we summarise and review the main similarities and differences in terms of geological and geomechanical characteristics between the hydrocarbon and geothermal plays in the Netherlands, and we consider the differences in pressure and temperature changes. By doing so, we provide better insights into the factors that could play a role for fault reactivation and induced seismicity, and how these differ for hydrocarbon production and geothermal operations in the Netherlands. The review shows that geological characteristics for most geothermal target reservoirs are similar to those of hydrocarbon, albeit geothermal projects so far target higher porosity rocks than hydrocarbon reservoirs. On the other hand, pressure and temperature changes are very different, with significant depletion for hydrocarbon fields vs significant cooling around geothermal injection wells. The different operations result not only in different expected stress change magnitudes but also in a distinct spatio-temporal stress build-up on faults, which has implications for seismogenic potential and monitoring of these different operations.

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“…The main components are CO2 (80%), CH4 (15%) and N2 (5%) (Bos and Laenen, 2017). A detailed description of the VITO plant is given by Broothaers et al, 2021. Scenario 2 (S2) is based on a hypothetical case where the VITO DGH plant is used as a reference. This scenario considers that the geofluid is entirely used for heat production and no ORC unit is installed.…”

Section: Elaboration Of the Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Currently, only three deep commercial geothermal projects (>1000 m) are fully operational in Belgium (Mons Basin, Wallonia) providing heat to heating networks (Hoes et al, 2021). Over the last decade, renewed interest in deep geothermal heating (DGH), led to the development of two geothermal plants in Flanders: the plant of the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO) in Mol and the plant of Janssen Pharmaceutica in Beerse (Broothaers et al, 2021). Also, HITA, a local development company, performed seismic explorations in the area of Turnhout in 2020, with the aim to start drilling in 2022 to supply geothermal heat to the local hospital and a planned district heating network.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle assessment of geothermal plants targeting the lower carboniferous limestone reservoir in northern Belgium

Gkousis

Harcouët-Menou

Damen

et al. 2022

Journal of Cleaner Production

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Deep geothermal energy in the Lower Carboniferous carbonates of the Campine Basin, northern Belgium: An overview from the 1950’s to 2020

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Thermo-hydro-mechanical simulation of cooling-induced fault reactivation in Dutch geothermal reservoirs

Thermo-hydro-mechanical simulation of cooling-induced fault reactivation in Dutch geothermal reservoirs

Comparison of hydrocarbon and geothermal energy production in the Netherlands: reservoir characteristics, pressure and temperature changes, and implications for fault reactivation

Life cycle assessment of geothermal plants targeting the lower carboniferous limestone reservoir in northern Belgium

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