en.Wedoany.com Reported - The European UPLIFT research project aims to drive the heating transition by developing reliable and economical geothermal heat sources. The project, whose full name is "Unlocking Petrothermal Lithologies through Innovative Fracture Technologies," involves partners from five countries and focuses on developing an innovative drilling technology for deep geothermal energy.
The project's development goals include upgrading existing geothermal wells for more efficient use while reducing the economic risks of developing new wells. The UPLIFT project runs from May 2026 to April 2030 and has received €10.9 million (£9.25 million) in funding from the EU's Horizon Europe research and innovation program (Grant Agreement ID: 101269511), coordinated by the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences.
Project consortium members include the Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Infrastructures and Geothermal Systems (Fraunhofer IEG), Charles University in the Czech Republic, Geo-Energie Suisse, Solexperts AG, the Swedish Fraunhofer-Chalmers Centre for Industrial Mathematics, ETH Zurich, and the European Federation of Geologists. The total project budget is approximately €12.2 million, aiming to make geothermal energy a more reliable, economical, and predictable heat source in the future energy supply.
The UPLIFT project is developing technologies to improve aquifer access, including a novel Micro Turbine Drilling (MTD) prototype. This technology aims to reduce the cost, risk, and development time of geothermal projects. The project will conduct laboratory tests at the Swiss underground laboratory "BedrettoLab," improve digital models, and support geothermal power plant operations through new real-time monitoring systems. These solutions will be demonstrated under real-world conditions at the RINGEN (Research Infrastructure for Geothermal Energy) research center in Litoměřice, Czech Republic.
Niklas Geißler, head of the Micro Drilling Technology group at the Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Infrastructures and Geothermal Systems, noted that many geothermal projects fail to achieve expected heat output due to insufficient water production from deep formations. With MTD technology, existing wells can be selectively expanded, increasing project success chances and accelerating implementation. The unique advantage of this technology is its ability to drill small lateral branches from existing boreholes, opening up more underground areas and improving contact with water-bearing rock formations, thereby increasing the likelihood of accessing hot water. This approach is attractive to geothermal project developers and operators, allowing better utilization of existing investments and reducing technical risks.
As part of the UPLIFT project, the Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Infrastructures and Geothermal Systems is building and testing an MTD prototype specifically tailored for geothermal energy for real-world applications. The technology will undergo extensive testing in a 3-kilometer-deep borehole at the Czech RINGEN research center. Project partners aim to demonstrate how existing wells can be effectively expanded and how this contributes to improving geothermal system performance. The prototype is designed to extend existing boreholes underground through additional branches, allowing the borehole to penetrate more water-bearing zones, and researchers are investigating the extent of system performance improvement.
The core of the Micro Turbine Drilling technology is a micro drilling turbine developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Infrastructures and Geothermal Systems, measuring less than 5 cm in length and less than 4 cm in width. Rotation is driven by water pressure from a flexible hose, a deflection shoe guides the turbine laterally from the existing borehole to the desired depth, a diamond drill bit breaks rock at high speed, and drill cuttings are flushed away with water. Depending on the rock type, the drilling rate is approximately one meter per hour. Cameras, acoustic sensors, and return flow analysis monitor the process, enabling precise operation even in narrow boreholes. This method does not require traditional expensive drilling rigs (rigless) and is suitable for existing or reactivated wells. MTD technology creates small lateral holes (micro sidetrack branches) from existing boreholes, significantly increasing the contact area between the borehole and the rock, thereby improving water permeability—i.e., fluid extraction and injection. Compared to conventional perforation, these holes penetrate 5 to 10 times deeper into the formation and avoid damaging effects on the rock. MTD can be used in different rock types, including crystalline hard rocks (e.g., granite or basalt), sedimentary rocks (e.g., sandstone, mudstone, and limestone), and evaporites (e.g., rock salt), and is applicable to groundwater management, oil and gas, geothermal reservoir development, lithium extraction from brine, and underground energy storage.
