Zurich Airport tests underground heat and cold storage facility
Published: Thursday, Nov 16th 2023, 11:50
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Zurich Airport wants to replace fossil fuels and is breaking new ground in the process. An ice-age channel 300 meters below the airport site could serve as a heat and cold reservoir to heat and cool a significant proportion of the airport buildings.
The potential of the gully as a storage facility is now being analyzed by experts in a multi-stage process. In a first step, seismic investigations were carried out, as the airport announced on Thursday. This enabled the depth of the channel, its shape and the rough layer structure to be mapped.
Additional exploratory drillings at three locations have provided promising information about the channel. This is up to one kilometer wide, around 30 kilometers long and filled with water-bearing gravel. It therefore fulfills the requirements of a potential heat and cold reservoir, according to the press release.
The next step is to create a test well. Among other things, this should show what quantities of water can be pumped and the flow rate and chemical composition of the water. This will determine where the definitive wells for pumping and returning the groundwater should be located and how many would be required.
If too many wells are required, Flughafen Zürich AG would not be able to implement the project to full effect, the press release states. If successful, the channel can be used as a heat and cold storage facility from 2026.
The investment costs for the exploration and construction of the wells are estimated at CHF 4 to 8 million. In addition, there would be development costs and further technical measures. The project is being funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) as a pilot project for geoenergy with a maximum of CHF 1 million.
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