City-scale analysis of subsoil thermal conditions due to geothermal exploitation

Abstract

Shallow geothermal energy is currently adopted in many countries for the heating and cooling of buildings. Interactions between close geothermal plants will become more and more relevant as a result of the widespread dissemination of such systems. This paper describes a preliminary investigation of the interactions at the city scale. The case study of a central district in the city of Turin (Italy) is considered. Data from existing installations were collected and thermo-hydro finite element analyses were conducted to establish the actual ground thermal conditions and predict their evolution. This allowed identification of the areas of the city where temperature anomalies could be expected, because of thermal exploitation.