Basic Description
RINGEN (acronym of Research INfrastructure for Geothermal ENergy) is a new research infrastructure included in the Czech Republic's Roadmap of Large Research Infrastructures 2016-2019.
It was established on the site of the former military barracks in Litoměřice, where a 2.1 km deep geothermal test borehole already exists. RINGEN will provide services to public and private universities, research institutions and companies.
It´s team includes approximately 50 researchers in the field of geology, hydrogeology, electrotechnics and other. RINGEN's primary focus will be on promoting the use of geothermal energy in the Czech Republic in the context of global development. The main objective is to lower the investment and operational risks associated with capturing the earth's heat and to enable its safe use in different geological conditions. An important part of this is also the pilot verification of technologies for heat transfer on the Earth's surface through heat exchangers for heat generation and turbines enabling electricity generation, on which RINGEN experts will work with industrial entities.
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The aim of the research infrastructure is also to build on existing international interdisciplinary research in the field of deep geothermal energy (GTE) EGS/HDR technologies and to create conditions for testing new and validating existing methods of EGS/HDR systems in metamorphosed rocks. This will contribute to the successful exploitation of this innovative technology on a global scale.
The main motive is to obtain a clean, renewable source of energy that is available essentially all over the planet. Currently, in the Czech Republic, this energy is mainly used for heat supply using heat pumps and at a few locations (e.g. Děčín) also using hydrothermal wells at a depth of up to 0.5 km for central heat supply. However, its share in the total supply is still very small, around one percent only. Geothermal sources do not contribute at all to electricity production. It is a clean resource, which originates from the internal heat of the Earth and is produced continuously by the desintegration of radioactive substances, mainly in the Earth's crust. It´s great advantage lies in it´s accessibility anywhere and any time, regardless of the time of day, the weather or the season. It´s carbon footprint is very low, i.e. its environmental impact is absolutely minimal, unlike large hydroelectric power stations, wind turbines or solar panels located on agricultural land.
The main condition for this renewable resource to become really interesting for investors is to master the technology of ground heat extraction to make it more efficient, safe and routine, and to significantly reduce the costs of the actual drilling work and the creation of underground geothermal exchangers (reservoirs). At the same time, we need to ensure that these exchangers will have sufficient energy output and that their stimulation or subsequent operation will not induce local seismic activity. Harnessing of geothermal energy will become a major strategic advantage, particularly with regard to greater energy self-sufficiency and security of the Czech Republic, and may represent one of the key contributions to the fight against climate change.
