title: Raus aus der Grube – rein in die Grube: Ein untertägiges Pumpspeicherwerk als Bergbaunachfolge im Ruhrrevier
Creators: name: Niemann, André
Publisher: name: DuEPublico: Duisburg-Essen Publications online, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
Year: 2018
Subjects: subject: 624

description: Mit dem Auslaufen des Steinkohlenbergbaus im Jahre 2018 hinterlässt der Bergbau eine umfangreiche Infrastruktur. Schachttiefen von bis zu 1.200 Metern, zahlreiche Ausbauten in der Tiefe und eine großräumige Wasserhaltung eröffnen Perspektiven für Folgenutzungen. Mit untertägigen Pumpspeicherwerken könnte an den heutigen Bergbaustandorten ein Beitrag zur Energiespeicherproblematik verfolgt werden. Ein aktuell laufendes Verbundvorhaben widmet sich ergebnisoffen der Ermittlung dabei zu berücksichtigender Aspekte am Beispiel des Bergwerkes Prosper-Haniel, der letzten verbliebenen Zeche im Ruhrrevier. Es geht 2018 außer Betrieb und bietet damit Perspektiven für eine Folgenutzung am Ende von mehr als 200 Jahren Bergbautradition im Ruhrrevier.
description: The implementation of renewable
energies and their increasing
integration into the power supply
of Germany is currently a primary
task of the country’s energy policy.
However, the problem of energy
storage itself has not yet been solved.
Besides new energy storage technologies
like wind energy-based hydrogen
production or new batteries or
even conventional Pumped Hydro
Storage (PHS) facilities, the Underground
Pumped Hydro Storage
(UPHS) concept represents another
possibility for energy storage.
Due to the coal mining history of
the Ruhr area in Germany, the last
mine in the Ruhr area, Prosper-
Haniel, will stop its black coal
mining in 2018. 200 years of mining
activities will then become history in
this region. In general, this mining
infrastructure may feasibly be used
for energy storage concepts. Thus,
the mine Prosper-Haniel has been
analyzed for becoming a follow-up
facility as an underground pumpedhydro
electrical storage project. The
developed concept is based on newly
introduced storage tunnels deep in
the earth which can hold approximately
600,000 m3. The conditions
make it a suitable location for storing
large amounts of energy for short
periods of time, which contributes
to the balance of the regional energy
grid. Despite the potential of this
existing network of tunnels, the
future post-mining underground
water levels will compromise its use,
and therefore alternative options to
create a new storage structure have
been proposed.
There is also an enormous energy
potential since the vertical hydraulic
head could be up to 600m inside the
existing shafts and their surrounding
infrastructure. This head is sufficient
to operate the pumped hydro storage
with small to medium volumes
of water. Facilities of this type have
not yet been developed or realized,
therefore an assessment of feasibility
and economic viability needs to be
carried out.
The new storage ring structure
(underground reservoir), which
consists of drilling 15.5 km of new
tunnels, takes advantage of existing
shaft infrastructure. It offers about
835 MWh for each production cycle
(4h) in the system with a total power
capacity of 200 MW.
The ongoing research describes the
most relevant aspects for developing
the project, considering construction,
geotechnical, geological, and
energy market restrictions. For the
evaluation of feasibility and the
identification of requirements, an
interdisciplinary research group has
been formed. This group consists
of expert researchers from the areas
of hydraulic engineering, geology,
geotechnical engineering, energy
economics and social science. Such
a group works in close cooperation
with the coal mine owner RAG AG.
Besides the RAG AG, there are further
departments of the University
of Duisburg-Essen, departments of
the Ruhr-University of Bochum, the
mining consultancy DMT GmbH
and the social research institute RISP
involved.
The main results concern the technical
and economic feasibility of
using the existing mine infrastructure
for the potential development
of an underground pumped-hydro
storage facility. The assessment
of the Prosper-Haniel mine is a
pilot study which could be used
for future assessments of intended
underground pumped-storage
facilities in post mining situations.
For further information please
visit: www.upsw.de
description: UNIKATE: Berichte aus Forschung und Lehre, no. 51Herausforderung Wasserforschung - lokal, regional, global, p. 106