VITO SITE
VITO, a research organisation on sustainable development, situated in Mol-Belgium, has built a geothermal energy plant on its site. From 2021 onwards, the plant is an integral part of a test programme to deliver geothermal heating in a responsible and sustainable way.
The first geothermal project in the Campine Basin involved drilling three wells that reached the Lower Carboniferous reservoir at depths of 3200 to 3400 meters. This fractured limestone, dating back to the Dinantian age, provides the primary heat source. The geothermal system supplies heat to offices, research buildings, and extends to a renovated district.
As part of the URGENT project, existing seismic survey data and induced seismicity data will be compared with newly gathered data. With available subsurface information, simulations will model temperature, heat extraction, and the reservoir’s geomechanical behaviour across various production scenarios.
What will be done?
- Small Scale 3D seismic survey to test and validate the seismic acquisition technologies, methods and data (post-)processing techniques.
- Developed AI & ML methods/techniques will be tested: AI models will be trained to recognise faults and finally represent the faults in 3D.
- Better reservoir characterisation tested on the VITO geothermal site will also aim to support the reduction of induced seismic risk for geothermal projects, contributing to reduce social apprehension about development of geothermal projects.
French