Consultancy DMT Group is supporting two projects in Germany seeking to tap geothermal heat for applications that include paper drying during processing.
The Geothermal Paper Drying Project is being carried out by Kabel Premium Pulp & Paper within the framework of the “Kabel ZERO” initiative.
The project is assessing the possibility of using geothermal heat from the ground under the city of Hagen to generate a large proportion of the steam used in paper manufacturing, around 500,000 megawatt hours annually, which is currently supplied by natural gas.
DMT is supporting this exploration work through geological investigations using environmentally friendly 2D seismic surveys and vibro-trucks to determine deep geothermal energy of the Devonian mass limestones at depths of up to 4000 metres.
The engineering outfit is also involved in the Deep Geothermal Energy Rollout in North West Europe (DGE-ROLLOUT) project.
The EU project, running from 2018 to 2022 is facilitating the use of deep geothermal energy as a climate friendly resource in north-west Europe.
DMT is harnessing and evaluating data from seismic measurements and deep boreholes up to 50 years old in the Munsterland region, in Germany, in order to determine the geothermal potential in the subsurface.
DMT was awarded the tender by the Geological Survey of North Rhine-Westphalia, and is working as one of 20 stakeholders from six countries to make geothermal energy in north-west Europe viable from a technical and economic standpoint, and ensure it is accepted by the wider society.