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First European Conference on EGS, Freiburg, Germany, 25 May 2012

First European Conference on EGS, Freiburg, Germany, 25 May 2012 Konzerthalle and Hotel Novotel, Freiburg/ Germany (source: flickr/ pilot_micha, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 4 Apr 2012

As the first European conference on EGS, the International Conference on Enhanced Geothermal Energy Systems (ICEGS) will take place in Freiburg, Germany on May 25, 2012. The conference is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Enviornment and organized by Enerchange.

On May 25th, 2012 Freiburg will be the hot spot for Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS). With support of the German Federal Ministry of Environment, the International Conference on Enhanced Geothermal Energy (ICEGS) will be organized by Enerchange, focusing solely on all topics related to EGS.

This comprises the technologies formerly known as Hot Dry Rock or Hot Fractured Rock as well as pre-existing reservoirs that are mechanically stimulated like the one in Landau, Germany. „For a significant contribution of geothermal energy to the Energy Turnaround it is essential to use the technology of Enhanced Geothermal Systems. The aim of this ICEGS is to show the current state of the technology and the further steps that are necessary for an economic realization of EGS-projects“ Dr. Jochen Schneider, Director of Enerchange.

Scientific partners of ICEGS are the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences with Prof. Dr. Ernst Huenges and Dr. David Bruhn, Dr. Albert Genter from GEIE Exploitation Minière de la Chaleur, Prof. Dr. Thomas Kohl from the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology and Dr. Thomas Kölbel from EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg. The German Federal Ministry of Environment supports ICEGS with funds from the 6th Energy Research Programme on Renewable Energies.

ICEGS will be made up of three parts. In the first part focus is on the early experiences from the 1970s with stimulations of geothermal reservoirs. Here Prof. Dr. Jefferson W. Tester will give a key note presentation about the first project in Fenton Hill, New Mexico (USA). Additionally experiences from EGS-projects will be presented, amongst others the projects in Le-Mayet-sur Montagne and Soultz-sous-Forêts in France, Basel in Switzerland and the projects in Landau, Groß-Schönebeck and Insheim in Germany.

The second part shows the state of the art in EGS-projects. The topics herein are the exploration, stimulation and induced seismicity of EGS-projects. Finally, in the last part Dr. Thomas Kölbel from the German Energy Supplier EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg will give a Key Note on the cost drivers of EGS-projects. This is followed by a panel discussion on the economy of EGS projects and the further steps to a breakthrough for the technology. The whole Conference is translated simultaneously from German into English and vice versa.

ICEGS is planned to take place annually in changing locations in Germany. For the first International Conference on Enhanced Geothermal Systems the vicinity to the 8th International Geothermal Conference (IGC), taking place the days before, was chosen, so that the participants could visit this event additionally. For the IGC conference more than 250 participants from over 20 countries are expected.

You will find further information on ICEGS and the possibility to register on the homepage under: www.icegs.eu