Geothermal innovation: advancing energy transition in Lausanne and Geneva
De-risking and developing deep geothermal energy in Lausanne, Switzerland
The GEOOL project aims to develop deep geothermal energy in Lausanne area, with the ambition to contribute to the energy transition by delivering renewable, local and clean heat source. Deep geothermal heat is one of the key energies for decarbonising our society.
A total of 10 seismic lines (10-15 km long each) were recently acquired in the area. The interpretation of these data in integration with legacy seismic lines and deep wells suggests that large faults and naturally fractured rocks exist below the city of Lausanne supporting a working geothermal system.
Today GEOOL is pursuing 2 challenges in parallel: acquiring long offset seismic 3D data over Lausanne agglomeration and drilling a first deep exploration well to Middle Jurassic formations at 3 km depth.
Dr Chadia Volery
Engineering geologist and Director of operations ...
Chadia Volery completed her PhD at the University of Geneva, in collaboration with Total. She joined Shell in 2010 in the structural and carbonate specialist group in The Hague, supporting field exploration and development across the world. She seco...
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Developing geothermal production and storage for Geneva's energy transition
The Services Industriels de Genève (SIG) has developed an ambitious geothermal energy development programme with the Canton of Geneva, starting in 2014. The aim of this programme is to enable massive, sustainable development of geothermal energy to decarbonise the energy system, by offering local, renewable and sustainable heating and domestic hot water solutions, as well as geothermal storage solutions.
To achieve this goal, considerable investments have been made not only in subsoil exploration tasks, but also in a whole range of more institutional and organisational actions. 10 years after the start of this process and the creation of a favorable framework for the development of geothermal energy, the first development projects are underway and will intensify over the next few years.
Dr Michel Meyer
Head of thermal and solar energy, Services indust...
Michel Meyer was the Head of geothermal energy at the Services industriels de Genève, from 2011 to 2024. Since March, he has taken on the role of Head of thermal and solar energy, where he focuses on managing thermal networks, heat pumps, as well as...
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