Project description geothermal energy Geneva Basin

The Swiss Seismological Service (SED) at ETH Zurich performs the baseline seismic monitoring of deep geothermal projects in canton Geneva for the Département du Territoire du Canton et République de Genève (DTGE) in the framework of the GEOEBST2020+ project, which is funded by the Federal Office of Energy (SFOE). A baseline seismological monitoring network of seven additional stations was installed between 2017 and 2022 by the SED and Services Industriels de Genève (SIG) to monitor the Geneva Basin, the focus area of SIG's GEothermies project. These stations were handed over to DTGE in December 2019 and have since been operated by the SED on the canton's behalf. As part of the GEOBEST2020+ project, the SED will install additional mobile seismic stations close to active exploration drillings and future geothermal projects as needed.

Seismic monitoring aims to improve the knowledge about natural, local seismicity before the planned geothermal projects are built or become operational. The monitoring should also help detect earthquakes quickly and accurately to help clarify whether they are associated with the geothermal project or are instead of natural origin.

GEothermie2020 is a multi-year, exploratory project run by Services Industriels de Genève (SIG) and the Geneva government, aimed at ascertaining the geothermal potential of the Geneva Basin, on both its Swiss and French sides. The project's first phase will entail seeking geological structures suitable for extracting shallow or deep geothermal energy. This will be followed by the launch of some pilot projects.