HT-ATES (high-temperature aquifer thermal energy storage) systems are a future option to shift large amounts of high-temperature excess heat from summer to winter using the deep underground. Among others, water-bearing reservoirs in former hydrocarbon formations show favorable storage conditions for HT-ATES locations. This study characterizes these reservoirs in the Upper Rhine Graben (URG) and quantifies their heat storage potential numerically. Assuming a doublet system with seasonal injection and production cycles, injection at 140 °C in a typical 70 °C reservoir leads to an annual storage capacity of up to 12 GWh and significant recovery efficiencies increasing up to 82% after ten years of operation. Our numerical modeling-based sensitivity analysis of operational conditions identifies the specific underground conditions as well as drilling configuration (horizontal/vertical) as the most influencing parameters. With about 90% of the investigated reservoirs in the URG transferable into HT-ATES, our analyses reveal a large storage potential of these well-explored oil fields. In summary, it points to a total storage capacity in depleted oil reservoirs of approximately 10 TWh a⁻¹, which is a considerable portion of the thermal energy needs in this area.

High-temperature aquifer thermal energy storage (HT-ATES) systems are designed for seasonal storage of large amounts of thermal energy to meet the demand of industrial processes or district heating systems at high temperatures (> 100 °C). The resulting high injection temperatures or pressures induce thermo- and poroelastic stress changes around the injection well. This study estimates the impact of stress changes in the reservoir on ground surface deformation and evaluates the corresponding risk. Using a simplified coupled thermo-hydraulic-mechanical (THM) model of the planned DeepStor demonstrator in the depleted Leopoldshafen oil field (Upper Rhine Graben, Germany), we show that reservoir heating is associated with stress changes of up to 6 MPa, which can cause vertical displacements at reservoir depth in the order of 10^–3 m in the immediate vicinity of the hot injection well. Both the stress changes and the resulting displacements in the reservoir are dominated by thermoelasticity, which is responsible for up to 90% of the latter. Uplift at the surface, on the contrary, is primarily controlled by poroelasticity with by two orders of magnitude attenuated displacements of << 10^–3 m. Our calculations further show that the reservoir depth, elastic modulus, and injection/production rates are the dominant controlling parameters for the uplift, showing variations of up to two order of magnitudes between shallower reservoirs with low elastic moduli and deeper and more competent reservoirs. In addition, our findings demonstrate that the cyclic operation of HT-ATES systems reduces the potential for uplift compared to the continuous injection and production of conventional geothermal doublets, hydrocarbon production, or CO₂ storage. Consequently, at realistic production and injection rates and targeting reservoirs at depths of at least several hundred meters, the risk of ground surface movement associated with HT-ATES operations in depleted oil fields in, e.g., the Upper Rhine Graben is negligible.

Motivated by the unknown reasons for a kilometre-scale high-temperature overprint of 270–300 ^∘C in a reservoir outcrop analogue (Piesberg quarry, northwestern Germany), numerical simulations are conducted to identify the transport mechanisms of the fault-related hydrothermal convection system. The system mainly consists of a main fault and a sandstone reservoir in which transfer faults are embedded. The results show that the buoyancy-driven convection in the main fault is the basic requirement for elevated temperatures in the reservoir. We studied the effects of permeability variations and lateral regional flow (LRF) mimicking the topographical conditions on the preferential fluid-flow pathways, dominant heat-transfer types, and mutual interactions among different convective and advective flow modes. The sensitivity analysis of permeability variations indicates that lateral convection in the sandstone and advection in the transfer faults can efficiently transport fluid and heat, thus causing elevated temperatures (≥269 ^∘C) in the reservoir at a depth of 4.4 km compared to purely conduction-dominated heat transfer (≤250 ^∘C). Higher-level lateral regional flow interacts with convection and advection and changes the dominant heat transfer from conduction to advection in the transfer faults for the low permeability cases of sandstone and main fault. Simulations with anisotropic permeabilities detailed the dependence of the onset of convection and advection in the reservoir on the spatial permeability distribution. The depth-dependent permeabilities of the main fault reduce the amount of energy transferred by buoyancy-driven convection. The increased heat and fluid flows resulting from the anisotropic main fault permeability provide the most realistic explanation for the thermal anomalies in the reservoir. Our numerical models can facilitate exploration and exploitation workflows to develop positive thermal anomaly zones as geothermal reservoirs. These preliminary results will stimulate further petroleum and geothermal studies of fully coupled thermo–hydro–mechanical–chemical processes in faulted tight sandstones.

Motivated by the unknown reasons for a kilometer-scale high-temperature overprint of 270 ~ 300 °C in a reservoir outcrop analog (Piesberg Quarry, northwest Germany), numerical simulations are conducted to identify the transport mechanisms of the fault-related hydrothermal convection system. The system mainly consists of a main fault and a sandstone reservoir in which transfer faults are embedded. The results show that the buoyancy-driven convection in the main fault is the basic requirement for elevated temperatures in the reservoir. We studied the effects of permeability variations and lateral regional flow on the preferential fluid flow pathways, dominant heat transfer types, and mutual interactions among different convective and advective flow modes. The sensitivity analysis of permeability variations indicates that lateral convection in the sandstone and advection in the transfer faults can efficiently transport fluid and heat, thus causing elevated temperatures (≥ 269 °C) in the reservoir compared to purely conduction-dominated heat transfer (≤ 250 °C). Higher-level lateral regional flow interacts with convection and advection and changes the dominant heat transfer from conduction to advection in the transfer faults for the low permeability cases of sandstone and main fault. Simulations with anisotropic permeabilities detailed the dependence of the onset of convection and advection in the reservoir on the directional permeability distribution. The depth-dependent permeabilities of the main fault reduce the amount of energy transferred by buoyancy-driven convection. The increased heat and fluid flows resulting from the anisotropic main fault permeability provide the most realistic explanation for the thermal anomalies in the reservoir. Our numerical models can facilitate exploration and exploitation workflows to develop positive thermal anomalies zones as geothermal reservoirs. These preliminary results will stimulate further petroleum and geothermal studies of fully coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical processes in faulted tight sandstones.

Energy transition involves an increasing demand for renewable energies. Room heating and hot water account for the majority of the energy demand of private households. Thus, seasonal storage of excess heat produced during the summertime and extracted during the wintertime is of paramount importance. High temperature heat storage in the subsurface may be realized in abandoned hydrocarbon reservoirs worldwide as these reservoirs have already been extensively characterized concerning their geology, geo- and petrophysical properties as well as their depths and geometries. Although these hydrocarbon reservoirs are relatively well characterized, their potential use for geothermal heat storage has not yet been investigated. Here we focus in a first approach on abandoned oilfields of the Upper Rhine Graben (URG) in SW Germany with the aim to assess their potentials for geothermal heat storage. While geothermal production commonly targets fractured reservoirs to obtain economically viable flowrates, geothermal heat storage will aim at reservoirs with high porosities. As the productivity of hydrocarbon reservoirs is commonly controlled by their porosities, they appear as viable targets for high temperature heat storage.We have characterized 20 abandoned hydrocarbon reservoirs in the URG, which were productive for more than five years, in Cenozoic sandstones in depths of approximately 200 – 1800 m. Our characterization is based on published data of their production histories, reservoir geology, and petrophysical properties. Most reservoirs in the URG are stacked reservoirs with inflow of hydrocarbons into the borehole from multiple stratigraphic units, as for example in Landau and Leopoldshafen, biasing an assignment of respective reservoir productivity. For heat storage injection pressure needs to be well controlled to avoid undesired hydraulic fracturing. Therefore, (theoretically) infinite reservoirs with high transmissivities appear to be more attractive and less risky than confined reservoirs.The production histories of the various hydrocarbon reservoirs show typical patterns with a rapid increase of the annual production, followed by a slower decrease of production (tailing) before hydrocarbon production was shut down. Most reservoirs in Cenozoic sandstones show porosities of 10 to 20% with some extreme values of up to 30%. Associated permeabilities vary from 0.1 to 100 mD with some extreme values of up to 1000 mD. Data show a non-linear relationship between porosity and permeability. During hydrocarbon production water-oil ratios increase until unalluring water-oil were produced. We evaluate the potential of abandoned hydrocarbon reservoirs in the URG for heat storage by developing generic numerical models to constrain limiting conditions. The uncertainties of input parameters and their impact on heat storage potential will be addressed by a sensitivity analysis. Potential reservoirs for heat storage may be defined based on energy recovered over invested energy (EROI). Preliminary results of our numerical models show a strong dependency of the storage potential on increasing flowrates as well as on decreasing thermal conductivities of the reservoir and especially the confining layers below and above.