Large scale district intergrated aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) for cooling and space heating

The City of Medicine Hat will conduct a detailed Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage feasibility study, with a field test component, to determine the potential energy available from local aquifers. Various options for heating and cooling the aquifers will be identified. The first phase of the study includes a high level review of geological records, a priority site assessment, a calculation of project cost estimates and the development of a project implementation plan. The second phase will be a field test to investigate the technology’s suitability to provide space heating and cooling in a small-sized municipal or commercial building. Two levels of energy management strategy will be considered. Level 1 will use a ground source heat pump (GSHP) to access thermal energy stored in the aquifer to heat and cool the building. It is expected to provide 90 per cent of cooling requirements, 57 per cent of heating requirements and result in a 38 per cent greenhouse gas reduction of approximately 295 tonnes. Level 2 will use also a GSHP but will add the use of solar thermal technology and/or waste heat to increase thermal energy in the aquifer, thus increasing the temperature in the aquifer by an average of 8 degrees Celsius. This method is expected to provide 90 per cent of cooling requirements, 85 per cent of heating requirements for the baseline building and result in a 59 per cent GHG reduction of approximately 457 tonnes.