In the DeepStor research project, scientists are investigating high-temperature heat storage as a geothermal battery deep underground. If it is possible to store excess thermal energy from the summer in the form of hot water in the pores of the deep rock, it could be used as climate-friendly heat in winter. With the envisaged use of a depleted oil field as a heat storage facility, the scientists want to create a genuine geoenergy transition.

The DeepStor-1 exploratory borehole into the potential storage locations on the edge of the former Leopoldshafen oil field enables the underground to be explored directly on the Campus North. The researchers want to drill an exploratory borehole approximately 1,300 meters deep in a designated area on KIT Campus North. In one part of the borehole, the rock is to be extracted undisturbed as a drill core and examined in the laboratory. Data from logging and testing will be used to obtain numerous data from the subsurface. This will also make computer simulation models more accurate and meaningful. This will enable the researchers to answer fundamental questions about the suitability of the subsurface for heat storage. DeepStor is seismically monitored intensively, and seismological studies are carried out.

In the Karlsruhe region and in the wider Upper Rhine Graben, there are several former oil layers that could be used to store thermal energy. This results in a large storage potential in the region.

DeepStor is a Helmholtz project and part of the VESTA and GEOZeit research projects. The exploration permit was granted together with EnBW.