A new city quarter is currently being built in Bochum in the industrial Ruhrgebiet of Germany, offering climate-friendly housing, living and working. It has now tapped the first geothermal well, marking an important step for future heat supply, writes an article in the German newspaper ZfK.
Known as MARK 51°7, the new district will be implemented and operated as sustainably as possible, relying on geothermal energy for heating. Now, the first well has been completed. It reaches the tunnel of the former Dannenbaum colliery at a depth of 340 metres and will be developed as a deep heat reservoir.
The mine water of around 30 degrees Celsius will be heated to 45 degrees Celsius using heat pumps. Water at 18 degrees Celsius, sourced from a second, deeper borehole, will be used for cooling. On very hot days, conventional cooling systems will supply additional cooling.
According to the article, the use of mine water should cover up to 75 per cent of the new district’s heating and cooling requirements. The remainder will be covered by the district heating network of local utilities company FUW GmbH.
