Wide use of sustainable energy from aquifers in Italy: Pilot plant design and implementation

Storing thermal energy in aquifers and acquiring heat and/or cold from extracted groundwater has been proven to be a popular sustainable energy technology, especially in the Netherlands, because of its cost-efficiency, delivering on average approximately 60% less CO2-emissions and substantial savings compared to sole use of fossil energy. Nevertheless, in the rest of Europe socio-economic, legislative and technological barriers prevent widespread application so far. The “Europe-wide Use of Sustainable Energy from aquifers” (E-USE(aq)) project, started in June 2015 and financed by the Climate KIC, aims to pave the way for a Europe-wide use of this new cost-efficient form of collecting and using renewable thermal energy and thus the creation of new business strategies and new jobs. The Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Bologna is involved in the realization of one pilot plant in Italy, which will act as flywheels that enhance wide application of the technology in Italy. The paper shows the site identification and the design phase of the pilot plant, including monitoring and control systems. Moreover, the paper shows which barriers have been faced during the development of the project and how they can be overcome.