DEKAPALATIN-BERTHA
The DEKAPALATIN–Bertha project is a collaborative initiative involving the City of Wörth (Rhine), Daimler Truck, EnBW, Georg-August University Göttingen (UGOE), TU Darmstadt, IGEM, and LIAG. The project aims to develop a geothermal site for the production of process heat and space heating within one of the largest geothermal anomalies in Germany, advancing the site through all project phases as an integrated demonstration project. The project includes exploration activities and the first exploratory drilling. UGOE supports the geothermal development of the Wörth (Rhine) site through thermo-hydraulic modeling, scientific well logging, and core drilling for reservoir characterization. Thermo-hydraulic simulations are carried out at two spatial scales. First, at the regional scale, to clarify the origin and characteristics of the thermal anomaly in the Central Upper Rhine Graben. Second, at the local reservoir scale, to support the sustainable management of the geothermal reservoir under doublet operation. The operational work of the project consortium is supported by the strong scientific and practical expertise of UGOE. In the planned deep well Bertha-1, an extensive scientific logging program will be conducted, complemented by core drilling within the reservoir horizons. The resulting data and samples will be characterized and made available to the project partners for further research activities. Ultimately, the goal of UGOE is to develop a workflow based on the geothermal play type concept to enable reliable reservoir discovery and sustainable geothermal reservoir operation in fault-controlled, tectonically active, high-temperature reservoir systems. Following the “geothermal play type” concept, the play type “active extensional systems” will be applied, verified, and validated throughout the entire process—from exploration to reservoir management. This approach will allow the knowledge and learning curve generated in the Wörth am Rhein geothermal project to be transferred to analogous geothermal plays.