INSIDE

Induced seismicity and ground deformation as interference aspects in the operation of geothermal plants in the South German Molasse

In 2019, the extensive BMWi project INSIDE was acquired as part of the "7th Energy Research Programme of the Federal Government - Innovations for the Energy Turnaround". INSIDE stands for "Induced Seismicity and Ground Deformation as Interference Aspects in the Operation of Geothermal Plants in the Molasse Basin of Southern Germany". The project partners are Stadtwerke München GmbH (SWM Services GmbH) and Innovative Energie für Pullach GmbH (IEP GmbH).

The better understanding of the processes leading to seismicity and ground deformation in the subsurface is a challenge that the geothermal sector currently has to meet in order to implement effective monitoring and risk-minimized operation management. The aim of the INSIDE project is to reduce this understanding gap and derive risk-minimizing measures from it, in the context of the exploitation of the Malm geothermal reservoir in the Munich area.

Hence, the INSIDE project has three main tasks:

The further development and expansion of active and passive monitoring to continuously record seismicity and ground uplifting/subsidence with a comparison of the performance of innovative and established measurement techniques and configurations.
The further development and implementation of innovative numerical modeling to describe and predict induced seismicity and ground uplifting/subsidence in an urban environment.
The real-time integration of measured data and modeling into the operational processes of a geothermal project.