First phase of VALTER production mode stimulations started

The primary aim of the current phase is to characterize the hydro-mechanical properties of the host rock. For that purpose, the VALTER team will inject relatively small volumes of water at eight locations in the rock volume. Initial results from the first stimulations in November 2021 are promising, demonstrating that the sophisticated monitoring system is capable to identify subtle changes of the hydro-mechanical properties. Furthermore, the associated seismic activities can be well characterized down to magnitudes of -6. The largest events happening during the stimulations reached magnitudes of about -4.6.  To have a comparison: Usually earthquakes can be felt from a magnitude of 2.5 on, which is about 45 billion times stronger than a magnitude of -4.6.
The current phase of stimulations is expected to be completed in late spring. For the following phase, the VALTER team will design stimulation protocols appropriate to permanently enhance the transmissivity of the rock volume and create an experimental geothermal reservoir structure. This step is expected to be completed in summer 2022. Again, safety is top priority and ensured by several safety layers. Further information is available in the last news article featuring the VALTER stimulations.