SKEWS
Commissioning of the Borehole Thermal Energy Storage System with Connection to the Local Heating Network at the Lichtwiese Campus
2025/11/25
In October 2025, the medium-deep borehole thermal energy storage system (MD-BTES) at the Lichtwiese Campus was transferred into grid-coupled research operation via a new connection line. The line was constructed by the Geothermal Science and Technology Group as part of the EU-funded project PUSH-IT and connects the MD-BTES to the campus local heating network. The MD-BTES consists of three 750-meter-deep borehole heat exchangers installed in 2022 and 2023 within the research project SKEWS.
The now fully integrated storage system serves as a research demonstrator for seasonal heat storage and recovery under real network conditions. The new infrastructure enables control-technical monitoring and the testing of various operational and integration scenarios. These also include coupling with a heat pump as well as the investigation of potential future expansions of the heating network.
With the grid connection, an important milestone has been reached, supporting the further development of subsurface heat storage technologies and providing the foundation for subsequent investigations and simulation studies within the PUSH-IT project.
Project website SKEWS
Project website PUSH-IT
