The Delft Aardwarmte Project (DAP): Providing Renewable Heat for the University Campus and a Research Base for the Geothermal Community

Abstract

The Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands are planning to produce a significant amount of heat from a geothermal well doublet to be drilled on campus for heating a substantial part of the university buildings. The “Delft Aardwarmte Project” (DAP, Delft Geothermal Project) was initiated by students in 2007, which was a major step in raising the Dutch awareness of the potential of geothermal energy as a sustainable heating source in the Netherlands. The Dutch subsoil is well perforated by exploration and production wells for natural gas and oil, giving insight into the geothermal potential as well. The DAP wells will reach a well characterized sandstone reservoir at a depth of 2200 - 2500m and will be operated by commercial partners. In addition, the wells will serve as infrastructure for research both for the university scientists and the national and international geothermal community. For this purpose, a monitoring system will be installed with partners from research and industry. Aspects to be investigated include the installation of innovative composite casing, scaling from the geothermal brine which often causes problems with re-injection, and geophysical monitoring techniques to be tested in a busy and “noisy” environment during drilling and operation. Drilling will commence hopefully in 2015. First project results and a progress report will be presented at the WGC2015.