Sustaining the Heat: Geomechanics for Resilient and Long-Life Geothermal Energy Systems (DS)
Tracks
Geothermal Energy
| Thursday, November 5, 2026 |
| 8:45 AM - 10:05 AM |
| Room 1 |
Details
Geothermal energy provides a reliable, low-carbon, and locally sourced foundation for future energy systems, delivering continuous power and heat with a small surface footprint. Unlocking its full potential, however, requires a deeper understanding of how the subsurface responds to long-term injection and production activities. Changing thermal, hydraulic, and mechanical conditions continuously reshape stresses, faults, fractures, permeability pathways, and well integrity throughout the life of a geothermal field.
Integrated geomechanical analyses combine multiphysics subsurface data, monitoring technologies, and coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical modeling to predict and manage critical risks such as fault reactivation, induced seismicity, reservoir degradation, thermal breakthrough, and infrastructure damage.
These insights enable safer operations, sustainable heat extraction, optimized reservoir performance, and increased longevity of geothermal assets, ultimately supporting the development of more resilient and secure energy systems.
Speaker
Mr Georg Dresen
Professor
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
What controls injection-induced seismic events?
8:45 AM - 9:05 AM
Dr Nathaniel Forbes Inskip
Professor
Heriot-Watt University
The stressful life of a fracture: Geothermal flow driven by stress
9:05 AM - 9:25 AM
Mr Giovanni Sosio
Subsurface Technical Lead
SLB
Can’t avoid the stress – why geomechanics are a must for geothermal development
9:25 AM - 9:45 AMModerator
Peter Achtziger-Zupancic
Operational Manager
Fraunhofer Research Institution for Energy Infrastructures and Geotechnologies, IEG
Anke Simone Wendt
Global Domain Head and Technical Advisor
SLB