At the pilot site in Ketzin, 40 km west of Berlin, national and European projects coordinated by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum, GFZ) have advanced our scientific understanding of how to store CO2 geologically, and researched the processes of underground CO2 injection and migration.
Until 2000, a seasonal underground storage site for natural gas was operated at Ketzin, in a shallower sandstone formation about 280 m belowground. As a result, the Ketzin anticline (arch formation in the rock layers) has been well researched: numerous seismic profiles and drilling projects from previous investigations provide information about the geological storage conditions and the characteristics of various geological formations. Based on this prior knowledge and on later exploratory investigations, three new wells were drilled for CO2 storage in 2007. The CO2 injection process began on June 30, 2008.
From the beginning, the project has been overseen by the approval agency (Brandenburg State Agency for Mining, Geology and Raw Materials / Landesamt für Bergbau, Geologie und Rohstoffe Brandenburg, LBGR), and the city of Ketzin/Havel supports the project.
Public acceptance is key for this type of project. From the start, the research project was accompanied by open and transparent information for the public, reflected by broad media coverage both domestically and internationally. The most important contact point for the public is the information center at the Ketzin site. Interested parties, school classes and visitor groups can register here:
co2ketzin@gfz-potsdam.de
The research and development work in Ketzin takes place in the context of national projects (BMBF, BMWi) and European projects (EU: 6th and 7th research framework programs).
