Guidelines and How-to on procedures to integrate Near ... · GRETA – D5.3.1 Guidelines and How-to on procedures to integrate Near Surface Geothermal Energy into Energy Planning

GRETA – D5.3.1 Guidelines and How-to on procedures to integrate Near Surface Geothermal Energy into Energy

Planning procedures

GRETA is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme. See more about GRETA at www.alpine-space.eu/projects/.

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Guidelines and How-to on

procedures to integrate

Near Surface Geothermal

Energy into EPs

Version: Revision 02, 15th of December 2018

This document is the forth deliverable of the Work Package 5 (or WPT4 according to the EmS numbering of

WPs) “Guidelines and How-to on procedures to integrate the Near Surface Geothermal Energy into Eps”.

EURAC, as responsible partner in the WP5, elaborated this report with the contribution from the involved

project partners: TUM, EURAC, ARPA Valle d’Aosta, GeoZS, BRGM, GBA, University of Basel and CA.

This deliverable shortly describes how to integrate the Near Surface Geothermal Energy into energy strategy

and planning procedures. The document is partially inspired by the phases of the Strategic Environmental

Assessment (SEA) that can integrate the methodology and the analyses described in GRETA D5.1.1 and

D5.2.1.

Deliverable D.5.3.1 – Guidelines and How-to on procedures to integrate Near Surface

Geothermal Energy into Energy Planning procedures

16/03/2017 – 30/10/2018: Guidelines to support the integration of NSGE into the EP

procedure with How-To for different target groups and a special focus on the integration of

NSGE in Climate Change mitigation strategies.

http://www.alpine-space.eu/projects/greta


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Table of content

1. Introduction 2

1.1. Structure and brief description of the deliverable 3

2. Energy strategies and energy planning in the Alpine Space region 4

3. Near-Surface Geothermal Energy potential 7

4. Existing barriers 9

5. Content of the other GRETA deliverables 11

6. How to integrate NSGE into energy planning and energy strategies 12

6.1. Initiation phase 17

6.2 Preliminary analysis and assessment of local situation 18

6.3 Spatial evaluation of feasibility and potential 20

6.4 Planning support phase with involvement of decision makers 22

7. Tools and web-tools 24

8. Conclusions 26

References 27

9. Annex 30

9.6. Partner’s involvement 30

9.7. Acronyms and definitions referring to NSGE 31



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1. Introduction

The aim of this deliverable is to illustrate how Near-surface Geothermal Energy (NSGE)

can be integrated within the development of energy strategies and energy planning

procedures (inserire accenno a descrizione web tool). This deliverable has been

elaborated in the course of the project GRETA: An Interreg Alpine Space project aiming

at fostering the diffusion of Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP) in the alpine area and

promoting their structured inclusion in energy and strategic planning. The project started

in December 2015 and is concluded in December 2018. The consortium led by the

Technische Universität München is composed by 12 partners from 6 countries (the full list

can be found in Annex, section 9.1).

GSHPs are used to exploit geothermal energy between the surface and a depth of 200

meters, the so-called NSGE (on the contrary, deep geothermal systems exploit high

temperature fluids occurring at greater depths either for satisfying directly the heat demand

or to produce electricity in a turbine system. These technological solutions however have

not been considered in GRETA). The working principle of GSHPs is based on the

characteristic of soil and groundwater to have an almost constant temperature in depths

below ground surface (starting from approx. 5 m). This property can be exploited both for

heating and cooling purpose: this means that the ground/groundwater is used as heat

source or sink, respectively. GSHPs can work with either heat-carrier fluid (closed-loop

systems) or groundwater directly withdrawn from the aquifer (open-loop systems). In both

ways, the heat-carrier fluid/groundwater is at nearly constant temperature along the year.

At some conditions, the cooling can be performed bypassing the heat pump and using

directly the cold water (or heat-carrier fluid) in the air conditioning system of the building.

This method is known as free cooling (FC).

NSGE is an undisclosed resource which is not adequately considered due to limited and

sometimes inaccurate knowledge regarding the technology required for its exploitation as

well as lack of awareness about its advantages and its high theoretical and technical

potential.

Within the GRETA project numerous aspects of NSGE have been explored. The results

of this work are based on additional deliverables covering the main principles on legislation

and regulation (D2.1.1 and D2.3.1), the most important technical and operative criteria

(D3.2.1), how to assess the spatial energy potential (D4.3.1), and how to match this

potential with the spatial energy demand of the residential sector at local and regional

scale in order to include NSGE into urban and regional energy strategy and plans (D5.1.1

and D5.2.1).

Following the methodology described in D5.1.1 and looking at the results presented in

D5.2.1, it emerges that NSGE can cover a relevant ratio of the energy demand of a



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region/municipality, i.e. a percentage of the energy demand that ranges from the 20% to

40%. For this reason, NSGE can play an important role in reducing the consumption of

fossil fuels used to supply the thermal energy demand and in reducing the related CO2

emissions. Furthermore, NSGE can contribute to the electrification of the energy system,

increase the energy independency and reduce the local emissions of other common air

pollutants, particularly PM and NOx.

In this deliverable we summarize the lessons learnt by the GRETA consortium working on

this topic in three different areas of the alpine space, namely the entire Valle d’Aosta region

(IT), the municipality of Sonthofen (DE) and of Cerkno (SI) and describe the main

procedures and measures that can reduce the effort required to perform the analysis and

to increase the quality and reliability of the results. The favourite audience of this

deliverable are decision and policy makers, technicians and experts of the sectors, who

could find indications on how to include NSGE in energy strategies and energy planning

activities, but also citizens who could appraise the feasibility and convenience of installing

a GSHP, through the web tool.

1.1. Structure and brief description of the deliverable

The structure of the deliverable is the following:

● Chapter 2 lists the main energy strategies and planning procedures within the

Alpine Space / EUSALP region at local, regional and national level.

● Chapter 3 shortly summarizes the results of D5.2.1 regarding the potential of

NSGE to supply a fraction of the thermal energy demand of the residential sector

at regional and local scale, and describes how this potential could contribute to

define and achieve the main environmental, climatic and energetic objectives

towards a sustainable energy transition.

● Chapter 4 briefly describes the main barriers related to the promotion of NSGE in

energy plans and to the adoption and implementation of NSGE in the praxis,

indicating, in some cases, possible solutions and aspects that should be taken into

consideration.

● Chapter 5 shortly describes the content of the other deliverables, produced by the

GRETA project, to clarify specific and thematic issues related to different aspects

of NSGE regulation and use. The results of the deliverable could be used in the



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process of integrating NSGE into energy plans, in the related chapter where that

process is described, references to the relevant deliverable are made.

● Chapter 6 illustrates how to integrate NSGE in the procedures of an energy

strategy at regional/local scale, and how to support the design and implementation

of energy planning activities at local and regional scale.

● Chapter 7 describes how to use the tools developed within the GRETA project to

start the integration of NSGE potential into the definition of energy, environmental

and climate objectives and the actions and implementation plans.

2. Energy strategies and energy planning in the Alpine Space region

What are the different types of Energy Plans?

There are different types of Energy Plans. On the one hand there are plans which mainly focus

on identifying areas and potentials for different RES technologies. On the other hand, there are

plans with the emphasis to implement measures including RES at local, regional and national

level. Planning instruments to identify areas and potentials for different RES technologies are for

example:

● Piani Energetici Comunali (PEC), Local energy Plan, IT

● Piano energetico ambientale regionale (PEAR), Regional Energy and Environmental Plan,

IT

● Digitaler Energienutzungsplan, Digital energy action plan, DE

● Energienutzungsplan/Energieatlas, Energy use plan/ Energy atlas, DE

● Nationaler Aktionsplan für erneuerbare Energie, National Action Plan Renewable Energy

(NAP-RE), AT

Plans with the aim to implement RES, contribute to energy efficiency and to reduce CO2

emissions:

Local

● Piani azione energia sostenibile (PEAS), Sustainable energy action plans, IT

● Local energy concept of municipality, SL

● Plan local d’urbanisme intercommunal (PLUI), Local intermunicipal urban planning plan,

FR

● Kommunaler Klimaschutzplan, Local Climate Protection Plan, DE

● Masterplan 100% Klimaschutz, DE



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● SECAPs, Covenant of Mayors, signatories commit to developing a Sustainable Energy

and Climate Action Plan), EU

● European Energy Award, EU

Regional

● Plan climat-air-énergie territorial (PCAET), Territorial climate, air, energy plan, FR

● schéma régional d'aménagement et de développement durable du territoire (SRADDET),

regional spatial planning and sustainable development plan, FR

● Integrierter Klimaschutzplan Hessen 2025, Integrated Climate Protection Plan Hesse

2025, DE

National

● Nationaler Aktionsplan 2010 für erneuerbare Energie für Österreich (NREAP-AT)

(2009/28/EG) National Action Plan 2010 for Renewable Energy , AT

● Strategia Energetica Nazionale (SEN), National Energy Strategy, IT

● National renewable energy sources action plan, SL

● Energy concept of Slovenia, SL

● Energy efficiency action plan, SL

● programmation pluriannuelle de l'énergie (PPE), multiannual energy programming, FR

● Stratégie nationale bas carbone (SNBC), National Low Carbon Strategy, FR

● Der Klimaschutzplan 2050 – Die deutsche Klimaschutzlangfriststrategie, The Climate

Protection Plan 2050 - The German Long-Term Climate Protection Strategy, DE



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Example:

Master Plan Climate + Energy 2020 within the framework of the Climate and

Energy Strategy SALZBURG 2050:

In addition to the obligations arising from international and EU requirements

(e.g. EU 2020 targets), there are other good reasons for the province of

Salzburg to assume a pioneering position in climate protection and energy

system transformation:

● Every year, Salzburg spends almost 800 million euros on the import of

fossil fuels. Money that could benefit the domestic economy by

switching to renewable energies.

● The energy turnaround creates security of supply and a secure future

and goes hand in hand with the reduction of greenhouse gases.

● There are limits to adaptation to climate change: if the temperature

rises too high, the consequences become uncontrollable and many

times more expensive.

To achieve this, you will find the following example from the catalogue of

measures:

Primary fields of action (energy and GHG savings):

● Geothermal energy (replacement of natural gas in the district heating

network)

● Deep geothermal energy for district heating generation

(supraregional project of Salzburg AG)



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3. Near-Surface Geothermal Energy potential

The NSGE shows a remarkable undisclosed potential that can be exploited to contribute

to a sustainable energy transition and the achievement of climate change mitigation

related targets. From the analyses carried out within the GRETA project the fraction of

thermal energy demand that can potentially be covered by the NSGE is:

● 83% for the Valle d’Aosta (Italy) with 40% of the thermal demand that at the

moment is supplied by oil and LPG boilers;

● 89% of the thermal demand in Cerkno (Slovenia), and

● 20% of the thermal demand in Sonthofen (Germany) if we limit the potential without

considering the implementation of small scale district networks that can reduce the

interference between NSGE systems and therefore increment the number of

building that can be supplied by the geothermal systems.

The cost of the supply technologies can vary quite a lot from region to region due to

different electricity and fuel costs as well as different HP cost regression curves, which are

used to assess the investment cost of the HP as a function of the power required. Figure 1

shows the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) for the different system configuration

analysed for the three pilot areas. The LCOE range for the Valle d’Aosta from a value of

83 €/MWh up to 48 €/MWh considering the use of the PV and the subsidies, while the

LCOE is of 100 €/MWh for the oil boiler and 59 €/MWh. The LCOE for Cerkno range from

59 up to 52 €/MWh considering the subsidies, while the oil boiler is of 64 €/MWh and 56

€/MWh for the gas boiler. For Sonthofen the LCOE range from 53 up to 45 €/MWh

considering the subsidies and PV, the LCOE is of 45 €/MWh for the oil boiler and 43 €/MWh

for the gas boiler. Further details concerning the analyses that have been carried out in

the three GRETA’s pilot areas are available on D5.1.1 and D5.2.1.



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Figure 1. Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) for the different system configuration

analysed for the three pilot areas.

The Discounted Payback Period (DPP) ranged from 4.2 - 15.3 years for the Valle d’Aosta,

if compared with the oil boiler and of 13.2 - 26.7 with a gas boiler, for Cerkno the DPP

range is between 19.4 - 24.5 years, that resulted in 21.6 - 25.7 years for Sonthofen. The

high difference between the Italian DPP versus the Slovenian and German values is not

due to the cost of NSGE use, that instead is lower in both areas, but it is due to the higher

Italian costs of the oil and gas systems. These main results highlight that NSGE has the

potential to cover a relevant fraction of the thermal energy demand, and can cover this

demand with costs that can be convenient or equivalent, if compared with the most diffused

fossil based systems.



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Furthermore, it should be stated again that NSGE has the characteristics to contribute to

achieving the various goals linked to sustainability both at global level (reduction of

greenhouse gas emissions) and local (reduction of pollutants). The contribution can also

be important for the electrification of the heating demand, to increase the energy efficiency

of the system, to reduce the energy dependence and to increase the energy system

resilience to fossil fuels interruptions.

Furthermore, NSGE systems have several features that make this technology suitable for

climate change mitigation. These main features of the NSGE systems are: an indigenous

resource, the energy production is independent from seasons, immune from weather

effects and climate change impacts (Chris J. Bromley, et al., 2010).

4. Existing barriers

To effectively foster the use of NSGE, we need to be conscious, not only of the barriers

that limit the effective inclusion of NSGE into energy strategies and plans, which are mainly

related to the lack of knowledge with regard to the technology and its potential (barriers

that are addressed through this deliverable and further project documents), but also to the

main financial, technical barriers that are limiting the diffusion and the use of this

technology. Many of the barriers are spatial related and while carrying out an evaluation

of the potential of a certain area they need to be taken into consideration. The following

list briefly summarize them before they are addressed more in detail:

- upfront investment

- unconsidered benefits

- electricity costs

- possible spatial limitation

- non-suitability of the building

- non-suitability of the area

- risk of overexploitation of the technology

- uncertainty of the regulatory framework

One of the main barrier is the investment cost mainly due to the drilling and excavation

costs and the heat pump, that are respectively the ~50% and ~20% of the total investment

costs (Lu et al. 2017). In addition, the required intervention and the interaction of a higher

number of professionals (geologist, engineer, etc.) further increases costs. On the other

hand, conventional systems often have costs that are usually not considered. For instance,



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the oil boiler systems could have an indirect cost that is due to reducing the air quality of

an area and therefore increase the chance of health problems to the population, or the oil

tank can leak and pollute water resources, or in the case of the gas boiler the cost could

be the realization/operational and management costs of the gas network. NSGE system

use the electricity to supply the heat pump, therefore the operational cost of the systems

directly depends on the cost of the electricity, this could be an advantage in case that the

building has the chance to generate and consume its own electricity (i.e., photovoltaic

plant, small hydropower systems, etc.), but can be a further element of uncertainty, since

the electric price can be influenced by other external factors that are out of control by the

system owner.

The installation of NSGE, especially when integrated in an existing building is not always

possible, since it requires some space available around the building that must be

accessible for a drilling machine. Furthermore, not all the buildings are suitable to host a

NSGE system, in fact these systems work particularly well when the heating/cooling

distribution system of the house works with low temperatures. Therefore, some buildings

would have to change the heat distribution system and increase the building insulation,

with a further increase of the costs. In general, it is easier to adopt this technology, during

the building refurbishment process. Moreover, not all sites are suitable to host a NSGE

system (e.g. landslide areas, occurrence of swelling rocks, etc.). For instance, applications

characterized by a low ground temperature must be accurately designed to avoid the risk

of extreme freezing of the ground and therefore reducing the efficiency of the system.

Another limiting factor that can rise with the diffusion of this system in a certain area,

especially when the area is characterized by a high population density, and therefore by a

high thermal energy demand, is the possible over-exploitation of the geothermal source

that can directly affect the global efficiency of the systems, and thus increasing the

operational costs. A possible solution to consider in this case is a low temperature district

network to supply the energy demand without compromising the system efficiency and

avoiding system interferences.

Another source of friction for the adoption of NSGE systems is the high variety of legislation

and regulation treating the subject. All these regulations often change from region to

region. They change in terms of authorization and verification procedures as well as time

frame from the start to the end of the process. This lack of harmonization represents a

waste of time, and possible money, for professionals to accomplish authorisation requests

efficiently.



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5. Content of the other GRETA deliverables

This chapter describes the content of related deliverables produced by the GRETA project

to clarify specific thematic issues in different aspects of NSGE regulation and use. The

results of the deliverables are used in the process of integrating NSGE into energy plans.

In the following chapters, references to the relevant deliverable are made.

The GRETA D2.1.1 “Overview and analysis of regulation criteria and guidelines for NSGE

applications in the Alpine region” describes the main regulation criteria that are applied in

the Alpine region in different territories. The document can give a short overview on which

are the criteria and how they are regulated in the Alpine space.

The GRETA D3.1.1 “Catalogue of techniques and best practices for the utilization of

NSGE” provides a brief overview of the different technologies available today and lists a

catalogue of NSGE applications that can be used by the reader to see how NSGE is used

in a mountainous environment.

The GRETA D3.2.1 “Catalogue of operational criteria and constraints for shallow

geothermal systems in the Alpine environment” describes which are the main factors of

the operative conditions that have an important impact on the total efficiency of the system.

The GRETA D4.1.1 “Assessment and mapping of potential interferences to the installation

of NSGE systems in the Alpine Regions” deals with the large-scale mapping of geological

features and other factors (environmental issues, bans, law restrictions, etc.) which may

interfere with the installation of Borehole Heat Exchangers and/or water wells for Ground

Water Heat Pumps.

The GRETA D4.2.1 “Local-scale maps of the Near-Surface Geothermal Energy potential

in the Case Study areas” focuses on the local-scale mapping of NSGE closed-loop

potential (Borehole Heat Exchangers, BHEs) and open-loop potential (Groundwater Heat

Pumps, GWHPs) in the 6 case-study areas of the GRETA-project.

The GRETA D5.4.1 “Selection of three pilot areas among the six case studies” describes

the criteria and the process that has been followed to select among the six case study

areas the three Pilot Areas where the GRETA project has developed and tested the

procedures to support the integration of the NSGE potential at regional and local scale.

The GRETA D5.1.1 “A spatial explicit assessment of the economic and financial feasibility

of Near Surface Geothermal Energy” summarizes the methodology and evaluations that

has been performed in the three pilot areas. In particular, the document describes the

methodology providing a document that can support for the evaluation of the Status Quo



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required by the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) as well as to identify possible

energy targets.

While the GRETA D5.2.1 “Report on the test of the integration of NSGE into Energy Plans

for the selected Pilot Areas” shows the main outputs of the analyses to clarify the amount

of energy demand that can be covered by NSGE systems.

Finally, the documents: GRETA D6.2.1 “A methodology for the identification of the

Stakeholders’ needs in the field of NSGE” and GRETA D6.2.2 “Report of the relevant

needs of Stakeholders in the field of NSGE” show which stakeholders have been involved

during the GRETA’s project and describe how they have been engaged into the project

activities. These documents can be used in the preliminary phase of the Strategic

Environmental Assessment (SEA) when it is required to involve the main stakeholders into

decisional process.

6. How to integrate NSGE into energy planning and energy strategies

Within the WP5 activities of GRETA, we developed a set of procedures and tools that can

support the public bodies in including NSGE into energy strategies and plans. The

underlying methodology and approach is partially inspired by the structure of the Strategic

Energy Assessment procedure (SEA) as well as by the major instruments that support the

elaboration of management system (ISO 50001, ISO 14001, EMAS) and the elaboration

of Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP - How to develop a Sustainable Energy Action

Plan - European Union, 2010).

In particular, with regard to the SEA the definition of new energy strategies at regional and

local level as well as the design and implementation of new energy planning activities is

regulated in Europe by the European SEA Directive 2001/42/EC. The Directive aims "to

provide for a high level of protection of the environment" and to integrate environmental

observations with the elaboration and adoption of plans and programmes in order to

promote a sustainable development. The SEA is structured in the following phases:

1. Identify Sustainability Objectives – Ensures that issues of ESD are incorporated at

the earliest stage of decision making in the process

2. Identify Targets and Indicators – Determines whether the objectives of the strategic

action are achieved

3. Describe Environmental Baseline – Illustrates the existing environmental/

sustainability conditions in the context of the strategic action



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4. Predict and Evaluate Impacts – Determines the sustainability impacts of the

strategic action alternatives and identifies opportunities for mitigation

5. Mitigate Impacts – An ongoing process to ensure the strategic action is sustainable

and the impacts of the proposed strategic action are minimized

6. Write SEA Report – Documents the strategic action, and the Strategic

Environmental Assessment process, results and decision making

7. Establish Environmental Guidelines

8. Monitor – evaluate the effects of plans and programmes after their implementation.

The described phases should ensure that the strategies and the plans under consideration

take into account the most important consequences of the different strategic/planning

options.

Figure 2. Strategic Environmental Assessment tasks.

The set of procedures and tools developed in GRETA support public bodies on some of

the tasks that requested by the SEA directive. In particular, they can be used to:

● identify feasible energy and environmental targets and indicators,

determining whether the objectives of the strategic action are achievable or not;

● describe the energy and environmental baseline, some of the tasks described

can support the public bodies in filling possible data-gap and/or to better define the

context of the strategic action;



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● predict and evaluate the impacts, the procedures implemented within the project

can support the SEA implementation, determining the impacts of different energy

strategies action alternatives highlighting possible mitigations’ opportunities;

● mitigate impacts, the workflow described can provide information to ensure that

the strategic action is sustainable and the impacts of the proposed strategic action

are minimized.

The points above, related to the elaboration of strategies (targets, baseline, impacts), can

also be used for the elaboration of energy action plans. Generally speaking, the

methodology described in this deliverable can both support the elaboration of strategies

and contribute to the development of action plans. For this reason, before continuing with

the document we introduce a generic description of the difference between a strategic

document and an action plan. The definitions are taken from the Alpine Space project

Alpstar, in praxis however this distinction is not rigorous and overlapping.



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Strategy document Action Plan

It is a high level conceptual document that

contains a long/midterm vision, the global

objectives, the direction, ways to realise

the defined objectives and an identification

of involved stakeholders.

It answers the questions: what do you want

to achieve and which tools and approach

do you consider to apply?

It is a detailed document indicating the

series of steps and actions needed to

achieve a certain objective.

It answers to the questions: what has to

be done and how? Who is going to do it,

when and with which budget?

Differences

An action plan usually contains strategic elements (vision and goals), while a strategic

document outlines only the goals to be achieved without identifying the single steps.

To the scheme above it can be added that an action plan usually contains elements of

an implementations plan i.e. with indications on the responsibilities for the

implementation of the actions, the time schedule and the financing aspects.

Furthermore, actions are usually described accordingly to the SMART acronyms

(Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound).

Methodology

To effectively integrate NSGE into strategy documents and action plans it is of primary

importance to identify the potential of NSGE systems including the environmental,

technical and financial feasibility. Within the process it is necessary to involve and engaged

the local stakeholders into the process to share the local knowledge and to involve them

into the iterative process.

Within the project GRETA however the focus has been mainly on technical aspects

(quantification of the demand, calculation of the potential and so on) the involvement of

the stakeholders therefore has been limited to the acquisition and collection of data. The

process did not go as far as to reach the planning support phase and therefore these

elements have not been included in the document.

The procedure that describes how to integrate the NSGE potential into energy strategies

and plans can be divided in four main steps:



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1. The initiation phase

2. Preliminary analysis and assessment of local context

3. Spatial evaluation of feasibility and potential

4. Planning support phase with involvement of decision makers

Below the steps are briefly summarised, while in the following subchapters they are

described more in detail.

The first step, is related to the initiation phase, which involves the identification and

involvement of the relevant stakeholders. It includes the evaluation of main barriers, driving

forces and the existence of previous relevant activities, which have affected or could affect

the promotion of NSGE. In this phase it is possible to briefly define with the stakeholders

which are the main objectives and targets. Additionally, objectives and targets can be

revised towards the end of the planning phase in order to take into account the results of

the spatial analysis.

The second step might be the most challenging and demanding one. In this phase the

relevant data has to be collected, pre-processed and harmonized in order to be able to

elaborate a baseline scenario and understand the local context. The latter is not only

related to technical aspects such as the energy demand of the building stock and the

average consumption of the installed heating and cooling systems, but it also includes the

socio-economic and the legislative and procedural framework conditions, environmental

aspects and other issues. The step concludes with an evaluation of the suitability of the

NSGE installation chain, among which are designers, installers and retailers.

The third step involves the spatial evaluation of the potential and subsequently the

identification of possible alternative technical solutions (by considering traditional ones as

well) in order to compare and evaluate them. The possible alternatives must be technically

feasible. The alternatives can be compared against different points of view and objectives

such as: environmental ones (e.g. CO2, air pollutants, reduce the share of fossil fuels,

sustainability on the long run of the different alternatives, etc.), social ones (e.g. job and

training opportunities) and economic and financial ones (e.g. impact on different economic

sectors of different alternatives, the different financial sustainability, the impact that

different financial and subsidies scheme can have to foster the adoption of a solution rather

than another, etc.).

The last step involves and engages the stakeholders within the decision making process

to compare, evaluate and select the set of strategies and/or energy actions that are more

desirable for the regional/local sustainable development. This phase is an iterative process



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which requires the collection of further data and information related to the baseline and to

integrate them in the analysis based on the inputs that have been provided by the

stakeholders. Furthermore, in this phase the stakeholder has to define how to monitor the

effects and the implementation of the strategy and action plans in the area under

examination.

6.1. Initiation phase

The initiation phase is composed by several activities; the main tasks are:

● Know the context. How NSGE systems are perceived by the geologist/engineer?

How is it viewed by the public administrations and by the citizen? Are the decision

makers aware of the advantages of NSGE systems compared with other equivalent

technological solutions? Have there been previous attempts to foster the use of

NSGE in the area? Starting from previous work and analysis how can they be

integrated to provide a more complete picture of NSGE potential? What is missing?

● Engage decision makers and local influencers. A critical aspect when starting

the development of an energy plan is to gain the commitment of the political figures

of the region/local area. The engagement of the decision makers’ vertexes can

drive the energy planning process to a fruitful exchange of data/knowledge

between different institutions, fostering the collaboration between different

institutions and pushing the territory to harmonisation and integrating different

datasets. If decision makers and local influencers start to be convinced that NSGE

can be part of the solution for the transition of the society from fossil fuels to a fully

renewable one, they can really foster the adoption of this technology on a large

scale.

● Identify and engage the important stakeholders that take part in the process

that create a new energy strategy or define a new energy action plan. An

involvement of the right stakeholders early in the process can simplify the

implementation and adoption of the energy strategy/action plan.

● Identify driver and barriers for the definition and implementation of the strategy

/action plan. Which are the main barriers and drivers for the adoption of a certain

path/technology? Which are the threats and risks linked to a certain scenario?

Which perspectives and opportunities can be raised in the territory? These

contrasting forces can be organized into a SWOT matrix, that is used for the

evaluation of different strategic/action alternatives.



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● Knowledge about previous strategies and action plans. A territory is not an

empty board, where we start developing something from scratch. Several decisions

have been taken, money has been already spent. For these reason, it is important

to understand how the new initiative is related with the past activities. Is the

strategy/action planned in line with the previous ones? Do we have a change of

direction? Which have worked and which not?

● Evaluation of trends and driving forces. To identify the trends and driving force

of a territory will help defining an energy strategy or actions plan that work

synergistically with the other driving forces.

6.2 Preliminary analysis and assessment of local situation

Strategies and plans need to start from a preliminary analysis and assessment of the local

situation. Subsequent to items stated in the SEA, the following steps could be considered:

● Assess the socio-economic framework conditions. Verify the present socio

and economic activities that can benefit from a higher efficiency in the generation

of heating and cooling. Potential interesting targets are for instance sport facilities,

infrastructures such as swimming pools and ice rinks, companies working on the

agro-industry sector that need a cold storage for their products, tertiary sectors

such as ICT to cool down server facilities, or hotels and offices to guarantee a high

level of comfort in both winter and summer time, and industrial process that can

benefit from the use of a NSGE system. Another relevant point is to estimate is the

increase of local employment due to the increase of RES technologies and related

expertise.

● Assess the legislative and procedural framework conditions. Understanding

how NSGE and linked topics are regulated in the area is a necessary step. It is

also necessary to understand, if there are opportunities to simplify the procedure

and or shorten the time process without compromising the control of the

authorization process (D2.3.1). Furthermore, in this task the legislator might

consider how to harmonized and include, from the authorization process, some

extra information that can support subsequent analysis, in order to reduce

uncertainty and increase reliability of the scenarios (e.g. automatic acquire the

ground stratigraphy data from the drilling activities performed in the region).



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● Characterize the hydro-physical properties of the ground. In order to integrate

the NSGE potential, it is mandatory to have a good knowledge of the ground, this

could be achieved in collaboration with the local geological service. Parameters

such as the ground temperature, heat capacity and thermal conductivity are

required to assess closed-loop potential, while hydraulic conductivity and

groundwater thickness are required for open-loop systems. For a complete list of

the parameters required for the characterization and for the detail methods to

assess the energy potential for both closed- and open-loops see the GRETA

D4.2.1. Similar data collections must be performed to assess the potential to all the

other renewable energy resource that want to be included in the analysis and that

can work in synergy with NSGE systems.

● Characterize the thermal energy demand. The NSGE systems can be used to

supply the thermal energy demand of heating and cooling. For a reliable estimation

of the spatial NSGE potential, it is necessary to have a clear overview of the heating

and cooling demand. Within the GRETA project, due to difficulties in finding data

for other sectors, we focus the analysis on the residential sector, however during

the definition of an energy strategy or actions plan it would also be useful to

consider in the analysis the industrial, commercial and service sectors.

● Define the thermal energy consumption. To better compare the baseline with

different strategic options, it is important to collect information regarding the current

energy consumption. Identify which resources are used, which technology are

used for which tasks, their average efficiency, their emissions, etc.

● Identify representative costs. An important step to support decision makers in

comparing different strategic/action alternatives is to include the economic and

financial factors. Therefore, each resource and technology must be characterized

with at least the following variables CAPEX and OPEX costs as a function of the

system power installed (e.g. €/kW), of the annual energy used (€/kWh), and of the

expected lifetime (i.e. years).

To effectively develop an energy strategy or a set of energy actions at regional or local

level the information explained above should be characterized not only at the aggregated

level for the whole area, but at a finer level of detail. A higher spatial resolution can support

the decision makers to identify different spatial patterns, highlighting territorial differences

that can require the development of dedicated actions. Furthermore, an increase on the

spatial resolution of the collected data improves the reliability of the estimation, since it is

easier to verify, calibrate and validate the quality of an estimation for some districts of a

city rather than for the whole region/municipality.



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This first step of data and information collections it usually requires quite a lot of time, often

the data are spread through different institutions, that are collecting the data in different

systems, different units, different time steps and spatial resolution. Even when they are

using the same time/spatial resolution the resources are designed to be joined. Therefore,

this task should not be underestimated in terms of time and resources. Particularly,

because the quality of the collected information in this phase effects the quality and the

reliability of all further elaborations.

6.3 Spatial evaluation of feasibility and potential

The spatial evaluation is a necessary step to evaluate, if in a specific territorial context, the

NSGE systems can be competitive. NSGE depends more than other supply systems on

numerous spatial-based factors: ground characteristics, energy demand, availability of the

resource and use of other technologies. Therefore, to effectively foster the use of NSGE,

it is required to compute the potential and to compare it with the potential of other

renewable energy sources. For this reason, the potential assessment has to be a spatially

explicit analysis of the economic and financial feasibility of NSGE use, which includes the

legal, environmental and social context.

To foster the adoption of NSGE systems it is necessary to identify the conditions where

these systems are competitive to other technological solution. Therefore, the spatial

resolution of required datasets should be good enough to estimate and compare the

annual performance of a NSGE solution with others such as LPG and/or oil boiler systems.

This level of detail allows an evaluation from an economic and financial point of view

including environmental and sustainable constraints that are difficult to assess without

conducting the analysis at building or neighbourhood scale.



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Figure 3. Main spatial evaluation and steps required for NSGE integration.

To get a first simplified idea of the relevance that the NSGE potential can have in energy

strategies or action plans in a certain area, a NSGE potential evaluation as explained in

GRETA D4.2.1 is required. This approach has been made available through the web-tool

described in Section 8 of this deliverable. With this tool it is possible to visually match the

potential related to a certain urban or land area and qualitatively assess the relevance of

the NSGE potential. To quantitatively identifying possible energy targets (e.g. reduction of

CO2 emissions, share of renewable energy for heating and cooling, etc.), that can be

reached under a set of conditions, a detailed analysis is required.

The detailed spatial analysis starts from an evaluation of the status quo of the current

thermal energy demand, for each building, and the quantification of the local energy

production. It also necessary to spatially identify the current share of renewables, which

allows to assess the spatial energy demand that is not covered by RES. On the base of

these analysis, it is possible to evaluate the economic and financial feasibility of a NSGE

system for each building.

The spatial analysis at building level supports the definition of concrete action plans and

local measures to foster the NSGE adoption. The analysis identifies which technological

solution or set of technological solutions seems more sustainable from an economic and

financial point of view. Therefore, the analysis conducted at this scale supports decision

makers to develop incentive schemes and subsidies that effectively foster selected

scenarios, or supports the estimation of cumulative effects and impacts of a large adoption

of NSGE in the region/area.



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6.4 Planning support phase with involvement of decision makers

The procedures developed within the GRETA’s project can represent a bridge linking

urban planning and energy planning procedures. Bringing the analysis of the energy

demand to the building scale will foster interactions and promotes synergies between

these two distinct procedures. The energy planners can support the urban planners to

identify the priority areas for an energy requalification, fixing a minimum level of

specifications that must be met, such as at least to reach a specific certification level equal

or greater than the one relevant for the specific area.

The decision makers define the objectives and identify the priority for a sustainable

development of their territory. As stated by previous deliverable (D5.2.1), NSGE can cover

an important share of the thermal energy demand in urban and rural areas and therefore

can play an important role to reach objectives and targets. To assess the potential of

NSGE systems it is necessary to match the characteristics of the ground with the energy

demand. Within the GRETA project we promote the analysis at the building level. The

analysis at the building level opens several possibilities on the evaluation of possible

scenarios, combining information from the renewable energy resource available, as well

as evaluates different refurbishment levels of the building, or different distribution/supply

system configurations, etc. The methodology and the procedures described in GRETA

D5.1.1 support the decision makers to assess the feasibility of a target as well as estimates

the possible impacts and consequences of different scenarios. Based on scenarios, it is

possible to elaborate recommendations regarding different technical solutions: define area

where a system should be preferred rather than other (e.g. GSHP, GWHP, Biomass, etc.),

define systems that can be integrated and work in synergy (i.e. GSHP and PV systems),

creation or expansion of district networks to cover areas with a high density of thermal

energy demand, quantify the subsidies or the taxation system that can transform the

financial feasibility of the systems.

To foster the implementation of energy strategies or action plans decision makers should

consider to:

● modify the legislative and regulative framework to improve aspects that can foster

the adoption of NSGE;

● define new subsides or taxation schemes that foster the adoption of the system;

● organize events and communication campaigns to advertise and raise awareness

on NSGE systems.

An important aspect when introducing a new paradigm/technology is to avoid systems that

are not working properly (i.e. bad designed, bad installed, etc.). A bad installation of the

systems can have a heavy impact on the adoption acting as a negative advertising and

becoming a new barrier for the implementation of the strategy/plan. To avoid introducing



Planning procedures


23

new resistances and barriers is important to dedicate time to the training of technical

stakeholders (e.g. geologist, designers, drillers but also insurance and banks) and promote

the quality of the installation chain. The professional associations can be the main

promoter for the diffusion and the training of good practice among the different

stakeholders that are part of the heating and cooling production chain. Furthermore,

another action that can be promoted is the increase of construction supervision from a

public body that can certificate the construction quality. Based on the objectives and on

the targets selected by the strategy/action plan it is necessary to select a set of energy

indicators and to evaluate the implementation or the advancement over the years. The

monitoring of strategies or action plans is needed to modify the authorization procedures,

to foster the harmonization or to promote the synergy between the datasets collected by

different institutions. This can be achieved by a continuous evaluation of selected

indicators. The new monitoring results should be used to adjust the existing activities to

be more effective or to formulate new strategies and new action plans. To synthesize the

process by points, there is an iterative process that goes through the following phases:

Context definition

● Definition of objectives

● Analysis and evaluation of alternative scenarios

● Setting target

Elaboration of recommendation

Governance aspects

● Evaluation of the possibility to modify the legislative framework if

needed/possible

● Subsidies and financial schemes

● Awareness raising and advertising

Technical aspects

● Promotion of an “installation chain”

● Training and competence building

● Increase the construction supervision from public bodies to certified the quality.

Managing implementation aspects

● Identification of energy indicators

● Monitoring



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7. Tools and web-tools

A new GRASS GIS add-on is developed to support decision makers in the assessment of NSGE

potential. GRASS GIS is an open-source software developed to work and process GIS data. The

add-on, that has been developed, integrates the G.POT method (Casasso et al. 2016) into a GIS

environment (described also in GRETA D4.2.1). With this tool the user can calculate the thermal

power and the energy that can be extracted from the ground setting the length of the Borehole

Heat Exchanger (BHE).

Figure 4: Screenshot of the desktop tool to assess the NSGE potential using the G.POT method.

To simplify the use of this GRASS GIS extension the new functionality is published through a

dedicated web-service at the following address: https://tools.greta.eurac.edu. The tool can be

used to answer the following questions: Where is the NSGE potential? How much thermal

power/energy can be extracted in a certain zone with a BHE of 100m?

Furthermore, the web-tool allows the user to assess the main economic and financial figures and

compare different alternative systems. The tool can also provide quantitatively evaluated answers

to questions such as: Considering my local context, which heating and cooling solution it is more

convenient? Which investment and maintenance and operative costs should we expect for a

similar system.


https://tools.greta.eurac.edu/


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Figure 5: Screenshot of the web-tool to assess the financial feasibility figures of a single NSGE

system

For the assessment of the potential at building level, due to the complexity of the input required

by the user to perform the analysis we did not release a desktop/web tool, but instead a python

library that gives a higher flexibility to the user. The library is available at the following url:

https://gitlab.inf.unibz.it/data_analysis/greta-nsge-feasibility

All the software developed in GRETA WP5 are released under an open-source license (GPLv3), and

therefore everyone is free to: use the software for any purpose, to change the software to suit

his/her needs, to share and distribute the software, and to share the changes . However, we would

kindly ask the users to communicate the use of the tool by sending an email to

[email protected].


https://gitlab.inf.unibz.it/data_analysis/greta-nsge-feasibility

https://www.gnu.org/licenses/quick-guide-gplv3.html

mailto:[email protected]


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8. Conclusions

The technical potential of NSGE has been investigated and mapped within the WP4 activities

(Deliverable 4.2.1), while the spatial evaluation of the thermal demand and of the main financial

figures, which combines the technical potential with the energy demand (the “techno-

economical” potential), are carried out as one of the major activities of WP5. The methodology is

described and discussed in the Deliverable 5.1.1 and the main results within the three pilot areas

are presented and discussed in the Deliverable 5.2.1. In this document we discuss and present

how the methodology and the analyses that have been carried out during the GRETA project can

be integrated into energy strategy or energy planning procedures.

In particular, this deliverable shows in which phases of the decision making process the spatial

evaluation of the thermal energy demand and of the financial and economic analyses for the three

pilot areas can be integrated into the energy strategy/planning process. The spatial evaluation can

be used to deal with the main barriers of NSGE and foster the use and evaluate the possible impact

that the use of the NSGE can have on different environmental aspects (e.g. CO2 and air pollutant

emissions, ground temperature, etc.). Defining an energy strategy or energy action plan requires

the involvement of several stakeholders and it is an iterative process that starts from the definition

of the objectives, identifies possible targets, collects data and information to define the current

situation, performs analyses to verify that the objectives and the targets are feasible, identifies

different alternative scenarios that can support the process and finally, based on the new data

and knowledge acquired it involves a revision of the original objectives and targets.

To integrate NSGE in this process, several data and information has to be collected and

harmonized to effectively estimate the potential. For instance, the current analysis uses the

building epoch of construction as a proxy for the energy performance of the buildings. With the

ongoing renovation process of the buildings, the epoch of construction is unlikely to be a good

proxy for the estimation of the building’s energy demand. Since the renovation works usually

requires an authorization procedure to some public body, it would be interesting if this

information could also be collected and integrated into a GIS environment including the most

important information regarding energy performance of the building after the renovation

procedures. Another important aspect that adds uncertainty in the evaluation of NSGE potential

are ground characteristics. Again the drilling activities have to go through an authorization

process, this authorization process should require that the companies in charge of the drilling

activities have to provide the ground stratigraphy with the main soil information found in a specific

location. This kind of initiative can pay back the investment on the long run, because they are

building up a knowledge base that could be essential for the definition and the refinement of the

next energy strategy or planning process, reducing the uncertainty and providing better

information on the state of the art of a territory.



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maggior tutela. ASHRAE, 2018. Geothermal Heating and Cooling: Design of Ground-Source Heat Pump Systems

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Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, 2017. Leicht steigende Strompreise 2018 für Haushalte. Somogyi, V., Sebestyén, V., Nagy, G., 2017. Scientific achievements and regulation of shallow

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Tooke, T.R., van der Laan, M., Coops, N.C., 2014. Mapping demand for residential building thermal energy services using airborne LiDAR. Applied Energy 127, 125–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.03.035

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UK GOVERNMENT, 2018. Oil fired boiler cost data. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, 2018. Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE). Welcome to Python.org [WWW Document], 2018. . Python.org. URL https://www.python.org/

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9. Annex

9.6. Partner’s involvement

The partnership, led by TUM, is composed by the following collaborators:

No.

Partner Nation

Contact E-mail

1 Technical University Munich (TUM) München (Germany)

Kai Zosseder Fabian Böttcher

[email protected] [email protected]

2

Regional Environmental Protection Agency of Valle d’Aosta (ARPA VdA)

Aosta (Italy)

Pietro Capodaglio Alessandro Baietto


3 Geological Survey of Austria (GBA) Wien (Austria)

Magdalena Bottig Stefan Hoyer


4 Geological Survey of Slovenia (GeoZS) Ljubljana (Slovenia)

Joerg Prestor Simona Pestotnik


5 Geological Survey of France (BRGM) Villeurbanne (France)

Charles Maragna [email protected]

6

Polytechnic University of Turin (POLITO) Torino (Italy)

Alessandro Casasso Simone Della Valentina Arianna Bucci

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

7

Eurac Research of Bolzano (EURAC) Bolzano (Italy)

Pietro Zambelli Roberto Vaccaro Antonio Novelli Simon Pezzutto Valentina D’Alonzo

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

8 Triple S-GmbH (Triple S) München (Germany)

Reiner Wittig [email protected]

9 Rhône-Alpes Sustainable Infrastructures (INDURA)

Villeurbanne (France)

James Gilbert [email protected]

10 Climate Alliance (CA) Frankfurt am Main (Germany)

Andreas Kress Janina Emge


11 University of Basel (Uni Basel) Basel (Switzerland)

Peter Huggenberger [email protected]



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9.7. Acronyms and definitions referring to NSGE

AC: Air-Conditioner

ACS: Air Conditioning System

AS: Alpine Space

ASHRAE: American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers

AW: Annual Worth

BEP: Break Even Point

BHE: Borehole Heat Exchanger

CDD: Cooling Degree Days

DHW: Domestic Hot Water

DPP: Discounted Payback Period

DSM: Digital Surface Model

DTM: Digital Terrain Model

ERR: External Rate of Return

FLEH (or FLEQ): Full Load Equivalent Hours

GSHP: Ground Source Heat Pump

GWHP: Ground Water Heat Pump

HDD: Heating Degree Days

H&C: Heating and Cooling

HP: Heat Pump

IRR: Internal Rate of Return

LCOE: Levelized Cost Of Energy

LPG: Liquid Petroleum Gas

MARR: Minimum Attractive Rate of Return

NSGE: Near Surface Geothermal Energy

PV: Photovoltaic

PW: Present Worth

RES: Renewable Energy Source

SC: Space Cooling

SH: Space Heating

SPP: Simple Payback Period
