Geothermal drilling has started in GECO’s Demonstration site in Bochum, at the Fraunhofer IEG geothermal facility!
The first 100 m were drilled using the casing drilling method, for which a specially developed casing advancer system was used.
In addition, the open borehole has been geophysically surveyed several times with very good results and we have succeeded in installing a fiber optic cable in the annulus between the borehole wall and the steel casing down to a depth of 266 m without damaging it. It is currently used for temperature monitoring . Drilling will continue when frost has thawed (soon after Easter 2021).