Top 10 List of Possible Risks for Soft Stimulation Compiled

    One aim of DESTRESS is to bring together social and economic challenges related to soft stimulation. An initial step for this task is to investigate possible risks: even though soft stimulation aspires to reduce the environmental impact of a reservoir enhancement, not every risk can be excluded. Therefore, thirteen experts from various DESTRESS project partners gathered at Energie Baden-Württemberg (EnBW) research campus in Karlsruhe, Germany.

    They identified and described 37 risks. Those include issues like public acceptance, challenges of permissions needed to operate a geothermal project or technical challenges regarding fluid-rock-interactions. The risks were prioritized by conducting a worst case evaluation, in which different monetary and probability categories were assigned.

    As one of the main results, a preliminary list of the top 10 risks and its mitigation measures is available now, and will be further evaluated.

    Sören Welter, EnBW