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Terra Energy's engineering tradition is the continuation of 15 years of groundbreaking geothermal energy research and development at VITO. Our specialists have literally worked with these technologies since inception.

Depending on your local geological conditions, available surface area, and energy consumption profile, we select the ideal geothermal energy solution and design a custom application for your site. While we continue to field newer and more robust technologies, the two most commonly used energy storage mediums are ATES and BTES.

  • ATES: Using the groundwater temperature.
  • BTES: Using the thermal energy towards and from the ground

 

 

 

ATES technology

ATES or Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage

ATES, or Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage, uses existing groundwater in a saturated, permeable sediments as a storage medium. Groundwater is extracted, used for heat transfer, and injected into the same aquifer through a separate, nearby well.

ATES technology saves you upwards of 80% on cooling, often paying for itself in less than five years.

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BTES technology

BTES or borehole thermal energy storage

Whereas ATES requires very specific geological conditions at the site of application, BTES has few such limitations.

Borehole Thermal Energy Storage uses vertical heat exchangers to store or extract heat and cold from beneath your building. The subsurface material becomes, in effect, a heat battery; during the summer, heat is removed from your building and stored underground, where it remains available to heat your structure in the winter.

The elegance of BTES results in substantial energy savings and rapid return on investment. BTES reduces energy used for heating and cooling by between 40 and 80%, while insulating you from long term fluctuations in fossil fuel prices. The project pays for itself in anywhere from two to ten years. 

Architecturally, BTES systems are easier to integrate into your project that conventional systems, making ten percent of the noise and requiring less space allocation in technical rooms.

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