The German Research Centre for Geosciences GFZ and the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Energy Infrastructures and Geothermal Energy IEG want to promote the use of sustainable geoenergy in the region with partners - through research and demonstration projects as well as the teaching of next generation experts.

Sustainable geoenergy, i.e. the use of the underground to produce or store energy, is an essential building block for future low-CO2 energy supply, whether in the form of geothermal energy or the underground storage of heat and cold or hydrogen.

To promote the use of these resources in the Berlin-Brandenburg region, the GeoEnergy Alliance Berlin-Brandenburg GEB² is being founded today, 17 April 2023, as a new research network.

The founding event was attended by representatives from politics, public authorities and industry from the states of Berlin and Brandenburg who are involved in the topic of geoenergy.

The current partners of the new research network

On the initiative of the German Research Centre for Geosciences GFZ in Potsdam and the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Energy Infrastructures and Geothermal Energy IEG in Cottbus and Bochum, eight regionally based research institutions are currently joining forces. In addition to the GFZ and Fraunhofer IEG, the other partners are the Technical University of Berlin, the Berliner Hochschule für Technik (BHT), the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW), the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, the Free University of Berlin and the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM). They cover different subject areas, from geosciences to energy and plant engineering and from materials sciences to ecological and economic sciences.

Simona Regenspurg, spokesperson for the GeoEnergy Alliance Berlin-Brandenburg on the part of the GFZ and head of the Geothermal Fluids Working Group in the GFZ Geoenergy Section, said:

“On the path to climate neutrality, the expansion of the sustainable use of geoenergies plays a crucial role. From a geological perspective, there is very good potential for this in the Berlin-Brandenburg region. The first projects are already underway, for example in the field of geothermal energy, where Potsdam's energy supplier Energie und Wasser Potsdam (EWP) has just drilled boreholes for a deep geothermal plant. In order to accelerate the practical application, we are counting on the GeoEnergy Alliance Berlin-Brandenburg to improve the networking of research with administration, politics and business in the region. We are pleased that we have been able to win over so many and diverse partners to join forces in advancing geoenergy projects in the region.”

David Bruhn, spokesperson for GEB² on the part of Fraunhofer IEG and head of the Competence Center “Global Georesources” there, said:

“We want to develop the climate-neutral energy systems of the future. With a holistic research approach, the new alliance enables us to answer the important questions posed to science, not least by practitioners from business, politics, municipalities and authorities. To this end, we will jointly initiate applied research projects on questions that are still open, further develop the technologies and make the know-how gained and available to the decisive actors. And last but not least, it is important to increasingly train young specialists, to which the close cooperation with the regional universities in the network will contribute.”

First projects of GEB²

As one of the first projects of GEB², a position paper “Regional heat supply through geoenergy in Berlin and Brandenburg – recommendations on the need for research” is in the works. In addition, the application for a research/demonstration project on deep geothermal energy in Berlin/Brandenburg is being prepared.