Geothermal energy for art

An innovative art warehouse is currently being built in Cologne that is setting new standards in terms of sustainability! The building's heating and cooling supply is being realised using geothermal energy, which enables climate-neutral building air conditioning.

A geothermal probe field planned by M&P ENERGY is currently being realised: 10 geothermal probes with a total probe length of 1000 m are being installed in order to use the earth's energy efficiently.

The City of Cologne, as the lower water authority, places high demands on the construction and operation of geothermal plants. Due to the proximity to the Rhine, the project site has highly water-bearing terrace sediments that are separated from each other by clayey groundwater dams. For drinking water protection reasons, it should be avoided that the groundwater levels are connected to each other by sinking through the groundwater dams.

To eliminate this risk, the boreholes are carefully grouted with very low-permeability cements after the probes have been installed. As a special feature, the building materials are doped. This means that ferromagnetic and electrically conductive substances are added to them. These materials are detected using the so-called susceptibility measurement. The measurement is carried out using a small sensor at the end of a cable section, which is lowered into one of the probe pipes down to the final depth. This special quality assurance measure makes it possible to verify the complete presence of the grouting material.

With the help of M&P ENERGY, Cologne is taking another important step towards achieving Germany's climate targets!