Folie 1

1
Recommendations for sustainable management of
transboundary hydrogeothermal resources at
cross-border pilot areas Bad Radkersburg-Hodoš
Area (Slovenia-Austria-Hungary)
Andrej Lapanje and the TRANSENERGY team
Final Event of project TRANSENERGY
Transboundary geothermal energy resources of
Slovenia, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia Vienna,
24. June 2013
2
Content

• Aims of research
• Overview of past knowledge and utilisation status
• Pilot area conceptual models
• Geothermal potential assessment
• - natural state and different production
  scenarios -
• Current vs. proposed management and utilisation
• - recommendations on transboundary management -

3
Geographical overview
Settlements Inhabitants
Szentgotthard 8,839
Jennersdorf 4,207
Gornja Radgona 3,115
Lenart 3,078
Radenci 2,187
Bad Radkesburg 1,326
Alltogether more than 110,000 inhabitants
Main industry - Agriculture - Machine industry -
Tourism
Area (SI) Area (AT) Area (HU) Total
Pilot area (km3) 831 666 582 2,079
Pilot area () 40 32 28 100
4
Aims of Research

• Scope of investigation
• Geothermal system in the Preneogene basement
  rocks within the Raba fault zone in the Radgona
  Vas tectonic halftrench
• Scientific
• What is the real extent of the Prenogene
  geothermal aquifer?
• Does this aquifer have an active recharge and how
  are the recharge mechanisms working ? Where the
  recharge area is?
• Management
• Do the already drilled boreholes in the Prenogene
  geothermal aquifer hydraulically interfere and to
  what extent?
• What kind of measures is needed to reach
  sustainable utilisation?
• How much energy (and mass) it is possible to
  extract in a sustainable way in future?

5
Structural overview
6
Previous status of knowledge

• Singular projects
• - oil and gas,
• geothermal,
• underground gas storage

Synthesis NANUTIWA, 2005 TRANTHERMAL, 2008
Dilema (Suete, Common project proposal,
2011) Recharge from infiltration in Bakony
Mts. Wide spreading percolation from overlaying
sediments
Potential mechanism of recharge (Domberger
Schreilechner 2007)
7
Oveview of utilisation
Location Water wells Total yield Outflow temp. Use
Bad Radkersburg 2 wells 22 l/s 78C Balneological and energy use
Benedikt 1 well 5 l/s 72C District heating
Korovci 1 well 20 l/s 80C Not in use / doublet in preparation
A
SLO
No natural discharge features No observable
changes in production and quality in Benedikt No
reported changes in production and quality in Bad
Radkersburg
Granted quantity (m3) Actual production (m3) Geothermal doublet
Bad Radkersburg 700,000 No available data
Benedikt In application 65,000 in consideration
Korovci No consession 0 planned
8
Utilization challenges

• The water is technically hard to use
• high scaling potential
• Current mitigation
• use of inhibitors
• periodical acid flushing
• Solution for future (BAT)
• closed system with reinjection
• (geothermal doublet)

9
Geological setting

• NW border of the Mura-Zala neogene sedimentary
  basin
• fractured Mz carbonates and Pz metamorphic rocks
  - Raba fault zone
• deepening towards NE to over 4000 m

10
Hydrogeological and geochemical setting

• The chemical composition of thermal water in Bad
  Radkersburg and Benedikt is similar
• Permeability is highly anisotropic, double
  porosity principle and depends on the structural
  position within the fault zone
• The recharge from HU is unlikely as
• observed hydraulic heads in HU are lower than in
  Benedikt, Bad Radkersburg and Korovci
• mineralisation of water in thermal karst (east of
  the pilot area) is very high in comparison to
  Benedikt - Bad Radkersburg area

11
Natural geothermal conditions

• Temperature in the Preneogene basement rises
  towards NE
• Convective flow cell in Benedikt with supposed
  base at about 2,000 m
• Locally enhanced permeability of fissured rocks
  in the geothermal aquifer

12
Natural potential of the Preneogene aquifer
Area (SI) Area (AT) Area (HU) Total area
Aqufier (km2) 349 48 73 470
Aquifer () 74 10 16 100
13
Methodology - Numerical modelling

• Coupled flow and heat transfer
• FEFLOW code
• Two distinctive lithologies
• The Raba fault zone

14
Geothermal potential due to differentproduction
scenarios (reinjection or no reinjection)
Production without reinjection Hydraulic
depression would reach Bad Radkersburg only if
very high abstraction rates or preference flow
paths were present.
Production with reinjection - geothermal doublet
Korovci Potential cool-down effects of the
reinjected water front, i.e. thermal
breakthrough is unlikely after 50 years in the
pumping regime 20 l/s and thermal regime 80 C /
35 C.
15
Current management
Current management practice Bad Radkersburg (AT) Benedikt (SI)
Operating pressure or water level bar or m Continuously No
Water meter (total extraction) Continuously Occasionaly
Outflow temperature C No info No
Elec. Conductivity µS/cm No info No
Closing pressure or static water level bar or m No info Annualy
Hydrochemical analysis No info Sporadic
Scaling prevention Periodical flushing with acid Inhibitor
Waste water temperature C 30 45
Waste water treatment Seepage purifying plant - stream Mur No treatment - stream Drvanja
Consession granted Yes In process
Bilaterally agreed monitoring program and passive
monitoring for this aquifer not exist at present
16
ACTIONS!

• JOINT MANAGEMENT
• Monitoring
• Reporting
• Permitting / protecting
• USE OF BEST AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY
• BENCHMARKING
• FURTHER RESEARCH

17
Joint management
Level of Utilization (Exploitation) Data Acquisition (Surveys / Monitoring) Data Management
2 Moderate utilization No interference No regional scale changes Active monitoring Operational monitoring (qualitative and quantitative) performed by users Bilateral information base
Monitoring program should be agreed between users and by the bilateral commission Evaluated and calibrated bilateral numerical model for protecting and permitting basic tool should be used
.
Aim of monitoring is to get a representative
information about the used part of the deep
groundwater aquifer (M. Samek)
SI-AT Mura/Mur commission opened the issue of
transboundary aquifer ? conclusions can be
prepared
Follow the best-practice example of the Upper
Austrian Bavarian Malmkarst reservoir
18
Mura/Mur commission should take the initiative!

• Using results of pilot area research
• The outcome of the modeling can be used
  establishing the water protection area.
• The Bilateral database for information exchange
  about status and production data can be developed
  under patrimony of Bilateral Commission.
• The program of bilateral monitoring can be agreed
  between Slovenian Austrian Mura/Mur
  commission and users from both countries.
• Monitoring should rely on existing production
  boreholes, no passive monitoring is proposed.

19
Use of best available technology

• Any new utilisation should consider the use of
  dublets thus
• preventing technical difficulties,
• minimize environmental impact,
• minimize impact to the aquifer,
• minimize the interference
• among users.
• All existent users should follow
• the use of doublets.

20
Benchmarking
21
Further research

• Improvement of knowledge about geological model
  (collection of new data, geophysical measurement)
• Implemetation of geothermal doublet (technical
  aspects, influence to the coupled
  hydravlic-temperature field
• Investigation of the potential in NE part of the
  aquifer at the border region between Slovenia and
  Hungary for production of electricity by binary
  power plants (geophysics)

22
Co-workers on the Bad Radkersburg Hodoš pilot
area
GBA dr. Rudolf Berka Fatime Zekiri
Magdalena Bottig mag. Gregor Goetzl
GeoZS Tadej Fuks dr. Mitja Janža
Dejan Šram Simon Mozetic mag. Dušan
Rajver Mirka Trajanova Nina
Rman mag. Joerg Prestor dr. Igor Rižnar
dr. Bogomir Jelen Helena Rifelj mag.
Andrej Lapanje
MFGI György Tóth dr. Gyula Maros dr. Ágnes
Rotár-Szalkai dr. Teodóra Szocs
Thank you for your attention!