GEO.KW – Efficient thermal use of groundwater for a decentralized urban heating and cooling supply

The main objective of GEO.KW is to improve the efficiency of thermal groundwater use in urban areas. The management of this resource will be improved by the development of a flexible tool for planning and optimization. Thus, the urban-specific demand for heating and cooling can fully benefit from the dynamics and the storage capacity of the thermal resource groundwater. This will make it possible to cover an increased share of heating and cooling with renewable energies and to reduce primary energy consumption. In particular, the substitution of conventional cooling applications by free cooling with groundwater will contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The project objective will be achieved by combining detailed transient simulations of groundwater flow and heat transport with an optimization tool for energy systems. Through this integrated approach, synergies will be highlighted and energy savings will be maximized. The developed tools will be applied and validated in the case study of Munich, but will also be available for similar urban areas after modification. The project GEO.KW (2019 - 2021) is financed by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi).