Research Focus

The research of the Geothermal Technologies Group addresses subsurface risks in deep geothermal drilling, exploration and production and underlying fundamental research questions:

  • Wellbore stability: How can we drill safe and economic deep geothermal wells?
  • How can we predict and estimate temperatures and transmissivities in deep geothermal reservoirs?
  • What is the mechanical integrity of the subsurface and in particular fault zones during geothermal production?
  • How can we predict pore pressure and stresses in different geological settings?
  • What is the interplay between pore pressure, stress, deformation, fluid flow and temperature variations in a geothermal system?

To answer these questions, we combine different disciplines (geomechanics, structural geology and petrophysics) and integrate a variety of methods (field work, laboratory measurements, modelling and numerical simulation) and data sources (geology, drilling and geophysics).