TU Delft starts drilling for geothermal project to heat campus and gather data

The large-scale geothermal project that started preliminary drilling on TU Delft campus in December 2022 secured a further €17.9 million funding and is set to drill its 2.5 km deep wells during the summer.

50% of final energy in Europe is used for heating and cooling buildings and thus, renewable solutions in this sector are becoming necessary to achieve a net zero carbon emission future.

This geothermal hub will be used to provide heating for the University’s campus and could also be expanded to some residential areas in Delft.

Two innovative research methods are set to take place in this project. The first is electromagnetic geophysical monitoring of hot and cold fluid flow in the subsurface and the second one is Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES), which aims at storing surplus produced heat in underwater reservoirs during the summer.

Phil Vardon, professor of Energy Geomechanics and leader of geothermal research at TU Delft stated that 'With the construction of the geothermal source on campus as an addition to the Delft Subsurface Urban Energy Lab, several research projects are coming together that will provide the necessary knowledge needed to scale up geothermal technology in the urban environment'.