Modeling the Thermal Field and the Impact of Salt Structures in the North East German Basin

Abstract

Geothermal energy represents by far one of the most extensively used renewable energy worldwide. The long term availability and the large extent of geothermal heat make it an effective source for a sustainable supply of energy. Exploitation of geothermal energy requires a quantitative resource assessment that must provide a correct identification of the main physical transport mechanisms involved. To understand the thermal regime and its interaction with the basin-scale fluid system, as well as its potential for geothermal energy production, three dimensional, basin-scale, numerical simulations of coupled heat, and fluid transport and transfer processes are carried out for the area of the North East German Basin (NEGB) in northern Germany. The main effort of the present study is to build a physically consistent model for the entire basin which integrates the relative impacts of thermal gradients on the regional fluid regime and their coupling with the observed structural and mechanical heterogeneities affecting the basin.