Research into the impact of innovative sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations is crucial to diversifying, scaling up, and accelerating the sustainable energy transition. Although there is vast research into sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations, research literature offers a fragmented collection of findings. A coherent overview of themes and insights regarding the transformative impact of innovative sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations on sustainable energy systems from the past, present, and near future is lacking and necessary to increase experiments and demonstrations' impact on the sustainable energy transition. The research in this study fills this knowledge gap by providing such an overview and yields novel insights into the organized function and impact of experiments and demonstrations. It spans a broad spectrum of sustainable energy technologies, the empirical domains where these are invented, developed and applied, and the stakeholders involved. The overview is the outcome of a Delphi study in which the insights of 47 international scientific research experts in sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations are bundled and explained. This study presents a thematic overview of the significant insights regarding past and current sustainable energy experiments and demonstrations and outlines a research agenda for the future. Policymakers, practitioners, and scientists can leverage this to inform their sustainable energy policies, business strategies, and research programs.

Cold water injection into geothermal reservoirs is a common, sometimes necessary, technique for multiple reasons including the replenishment and stimulation of the reservoirs, and the disposal of waste water. The injection of cold water results in a thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) impulse, which can cause near-wellbore cracking. A method is presented to simulate coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical processes, including the re-activation of existing fractures and fracturing of the rock matrix. The model is based on the finite element method, and utilises a newly developed cohesive interface element to represent discontinuities. The interface element belongs to the family of zero-thickness elements and is triple-noded. It is developed to allow the simulation of longitudinal and transversal fluid/heat flow. The cubic law is used to simulate the fracture transmissivity as a function of its aperture, while a elasto-damage law is used to characterise the mechanical response of the discontinuity. The method is successfully verified against analytical solutions for hydraulic fracturing (KGD model) and for the thermo-hydraulic response of a single fracture (Lauwerier’s problem). As numerical oscillations are observed due to the high Péclet number, an artificial diffusion is added to stabilise the numerical solution with sufficient accuracy. Qualitative validation is achieved against experimental data of cold water injection in granite samples. Fracture branching is observed in the case with large cooling shock, while a single fracture is induced in the case with smaller cooling shock, as was observed in the experiment. The validation demonstrates the capability of the proposed model to simulate fracturing processes under THM couplings.

This paper presents quantitative data from a field test on a new type of energy pile, called a displacement cast in situ energy pile. The test pile was installed in a multilayered soft soils and subjected to a continuous cooling for 3 months, with no mechanical load. Afterwards, the pile was loaded to a specific target of 20 or 60 % of its calculated ultimate bearing capacity and then subjected to up to five thermal cycles. Under zero mechanical load, the results revealed that the compressive/tensile stresses coexist along the pile. Under low mechanical load (20 %), thermal cycles induced irreversible residual contractive strains and stresses as well as a limited pile head settlement. Under high mechanical load (60 %) and extreme operating conditions, i.e., negative temperatures which could have indicated a frozen interface, further irreversible settlements observed at the end of this test. Mechanical pile tests however indicated no impact of stress history (including the freezing test) on the shaft resistance and the overall pile-bearing capacity.

Three-dimensional and spatial variability effects on slope failure processes are investigated for an idealised slope stability problem with the random material point method (RMPM). A 45 degree slope is brought to failure by either its own weight or by a combination of its own weight and an additional surface load applied at the crest. The ultimate failure load and potential failure processes are studied for various (heterogeneous) material strength profiles. In 3D, failures tend to spread sideways and backwards. For the slope geometry considered, the resistance to initial and secondary failures in 3D simulations tends to be higher than in 2D simulations, probably due to the additional resistance from the ends of the failure surfaces. The failure behaviour changes when a depth trend in the material strength is introduced. A depth trend in the material strength triggers a flow-like failure process, instead of distinct (approximately) circular failure surfaces which are encountered in a material without a depth trend. The flow-like behaviour causes an expansion in the failure zone in all directions while avoiding (where possible) local strong zones.

The Cutter Soil Mix (CSM) energy wall represents a novel type of energy geostructure, merging the environmental and cost benefits of the CSM technique with ground source heat pump technology. This innovation necessitated comprehensive research to understand the thermal, physical and mechanical characteristics of the material, and optimise energy performance of the CSM energy wall. Laboratory tests and finite element numerical modelling, replicating a full-scale CSM test site in Amstelveen (the Netherlands), were employed to evaluate energy performance under varying demand scenarios: heating only, and combined heating and cooling. Key aspects examined include the influence of horizontal connection pipes on energy extraction and injection, and the impact of U-loop configuration on heat exchange rates over short and long terms. Findings indicate that energy demand significantly affects system performance, with combined heating and cooling demands enhancing long-term heat exchange rates compared to heating-only scenarios. The study demonstrates that non-insulated connection pipes increase overall heat exchange rates, especially under heating-only conditions, while reducing the number of U-loops decreases thermal interaction and enhances energy extraction rates per activated area.

Energy Quay Walls (EQWs) are innovative energy geostructures with the unique capability to exchange heat with both soil and open water. Although previous laboratory testing demonstrated a promising energy efficiency for this type of system, its novelty necessitated thorough research to advance comprehension of its thermal behaviour and optimise energy efficiency. This paper conducts an in-depth examination of EQWs, employing numerical models validated against real data from a full scale test in Delft, The Netherlands.

Two Finite Element numerical models were developed to (i) reconstruct the undisturbed (i.e. pre-geothermal activation) temperature profile within the soil and (ii) conduct a comprehensive (3D) analysis of heat exchange processes in an EQW application (i.e. during geothermal activation), calibrating relevant parameters with field test data, providing valuable insights into its energy efficiency. Following validation, the geothermal activation model was employed to assess the impact of the flow regime within the heat exchanger pipes and the velocity of the open water on the energy efficiency of the EQW system. Additionally, the contributions of soil, water, and air to the energy gain are investigated. The results indicate that the primary source of energy gain is from open water, and the dominance of this contribution is further increased by the presence of turbulent flow within the heat exchanger pipes. However, the soil can play a key role in short term energy delivery. Furthermore, this study emphasises the importance of the open water movement, revealing a 48% reduction in energy extraction for fully stationary water scenarios.

Subsurface schematisations are a crucial geotechnical problem which generally consists of filling substantial gaps in subsurface information from the limited site investigation data available and relying heavily on the engineer’s experience and occasionally geostatistical tools. To address this, schemaGAN, a conditional Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) to generate geotechnical subsurface schematisations from site investigation data is introduced. This novel method can learn complex underlying rules that govern the subsurface geometries and anisotropy from a big database of training cross-sections, and can produce subsurface schematisations from Cone Penetration Tests (CPT) in an insignificant timeframe. To test and demonstrate the performance of schemaGAN, a database of 24,000 synthetic geotechnical cross-sections with their corresponding CPT data was created, including spatial variability and gradually spatially varying layers. After training, the effectiveness of schemaGAN was compared against several interpolation methods, and it is seen that schemaGAN outperforms all other methods, with results characterised by clear layer boundaries and an accurate representation of anisotropy within the layers. SchemaGAN’s superior performance was confirmed through a blind survey, and in two real case studies in the Netherlands, where the model demonstrates better predictive accuracy for known CPT data.

Evaluating the temporal stability and risk of unsaturated soil slopes during rainfall is essential for early warning and emergency response to landslides. However, limited research has been conducted on the transition timing of sliding mechanisms, instability/failure time and the integration of sliding consequences into quantitative risk assessment. In order to extend the research in this field, the Random Finite Element Method (RFEM) is used in this paper to investigate the influence of spatial variability of hydraulic properties (related to the fundamental parameter porosity) on the temporal stability and risk of soil slopes subject to rainfall. The findings indicate that the advancing speed of the wetting front is more rapidly in zones with low porosity than that in zones with high porosity. As rainfall progresses, the sliding mechanism of the slope shifts from deep sliding to shallow sliding. The homogeneous case tends to underestimate the rise in groundwater levels, leading to an overestimation of slope stability. Hydraulic boundary conditions significantly affect slope stability, making it crucial to consider horizontal (or near the toe of the slope) drainage conditions in practical applications. Additionally, the time of instability/failure predicted in the homogeneous case may be delayed compared to the actual conditions. Both probability of instability/failure and risk increase with continued rainfall. Compared to scenarios where the spatial variability of internal friction angle is not considered, the probability of instability/failure and risk will be higher when the spatial variability of internal friction angle is additionally considered. Risk-based assessment can define the risk levels, reflecting the severity of sliding consequences. Furthermore, the Malin slope failure record from the Chibo region of India is used to validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The probabilities of slope failure align well with actual observations, and the risk-based assessment provides additional information into the Malin landslide. This paper proposes a general model for studying the performance of heterogeneous slopes subject to rainfall, providing valuable guidance for landslide early warning systems and the scope and timing of emergency measures taken.

Energy Quay Walls (EQWs) are innovative energy geostructures which exchange thermal energy with both soil and open water while providing a structural function. A full-scale EQW with thermally activated sheet piles was tested, measuring 8.4 m in length along a 1.75m deep canal, with the sheet piles embedded 13m into the underlying soil. Two different length heat exchangers were used: shallow (3 m length) loops primarily extracting thermal energy from the open water, and deep (15 m length) loops extracting energy also from the soil. The shallow loops demonstrated a high heat extraction rate per activated surface area (∼200 W/m2 at 8 °C water temperature, compared with ∼60 W/m2 for the deep loops), with their performance closely linked to the open water temperature. The shallow loops did not require time to restore surrounding temperatures, indicating stable long-term performance, yet can extract the least energy at the coldest time periods. In contrast, the deeper loops exhibit greater stability across varying open water temperatures and achieve the highest total energy extraction per quay wall length (∼900 W/m at 8 °C water temperature, compared with ∼600 W/m for the shallow loops). Realistic operation of the deep loops lowered the soil temperature by ∼2 °C.

The effect of the load level on long-term thermally induced pile displacements and the impact of cyclic thermal loads on the bearing capacity of energy piles are investigated via a full-scale in situ test in Delft, The Netherlands. The pile was loaded to a specific target of 0, 30, 40, or 60% of its calculated ultimate bearing capacity. At the end of each loading step, up to ten cooling–natural heating cycles were applied. The pile behavior during monotonic cooling and cyclic cooling–natural heating in terms of the displacement along the pile is reported, with a focus on permanent displacements. During monotonic (pile/ground) cooling, a settlement of the pile head and an uplift of the pile segment near the pile tip were observed in all four tests. In addition, under higher mechanical load, the pile head displacement was larger while the uplift was lower due to the imposed mechanical load. During cyclic thermal load, under zero mechanical load, pile head displacement was fully reversible while permanent uplift of the lowest pile segment was observed and attributed mainly to the permanent dragdown of the surrounding soil. Under moderate mechanical loads (30 and 40%), thermal cycles induced an irreversible pile head settlement, which stabilized with an increasing number of cycles. In addition, a permanent pile settlement along the pile was observed at the end of these tests. Under high mechanical load (60%), the irreversible settlement along the pile continued to increase with only a slight reduction in rate, being higher compared to moderate mechanical loads. In this test, a normalized pile head settlement of 0.124% was observed after ten thermal cycles. The permanent settlement of the pile under thermo-mechanical loads was mainly attributed to the contraction of sand beneath the pile tip and thermal creep at the soil–structure interface. The pile bearing capacity was observed to increase after thermo-mechanical tests, mainly due to the residual/plastic pile head displacement, which in turn densified sand leading to an increase in tip resistance.

Gas-induced fracturing in liquid-saturated clay-rich materials presents challenges in understanding and predicting fracture behaviour, due to the complex mechanical and transport properties of clays and the compressibility of gas. This paper introduces a novel experimental device for visualising fluid-driven cracks in clays. The device allows for the induction and observation of two-dimensional cracks in clay-rich, low-permeability materials through the injection of gas or water. The experimental setup comprises precision instrumentation for measuring compression forces, displacement, and fluid pressure, along with high-resolution imaging capabilities. Preliminary tests with Helium gas injection into Boom clay samples demonstrate the device's ability to track fracture evolution. This innovative experimental tool offers insights into the mechanisms governing fluid-driven fractures in clay-rich materials and provides a means to validate numerical models.

Energy quay walls (EQWs) are an innovative type of energy geostructure (EG), capable of exchanging thermal energy with both soil and open water. In this work, a validated 3D finite element numerical model is employed to conduct a parametric analysis aimed at identifying the most important design- and site-dependent parameters for optimising EQW energy performance. The Taguchi Experimental Design statistical method is employed to explore the parameter space for two types of heat exchanger loops used in EQW installations: loops incorporated into the structural elements and add-on panels. The most influential design parameter on the energy performance is shown to be the number of U-loops, which can significantly improve the energy yield (up to ∼50%). The effects of reduced inlet temperature (up to ∼35%), enlarged pipe cross-sectional area (up to ∼26%) and increased heat exchanger fluid velocity (up to ∼20%) are also significant for the EQW thermal performance. Among site-specific factors, the presence of a deep water body (up to ∼100%) with high temperature (up to ∼62%) is confirmed essential for achieving high energetic performance, while a high open water flow velocity (up to ∼32%) and elevated soil thermal conductivity (up to ∼23%) are influential in the short-term thermal output.

Underground Thermal Energy Storage (UTES) technologies are essential for advancing low-carbon heating and cooling systems, particularly in urban areas where space constraints and retrofitting challenges pose significant barriers. In this study the performance of a system of novel coaxial diagonal borehole heat exchangers (BHE) is analyzed during September–December 2024.

The Home Smart Energy (HSE) system, implemented in Medemblik, Netherlands, features a nine-borehole diagonal array arranged in a circular configuration. The boreholes are drilled at a 60° or 45° angle to depths of up to 40 meters, operating in a closed-loop coaxial setup. A brine mixture of water, operates with a flow rate of 3100 l/h, and 14% glycol lowers the freezing point below 0°C, allowing the system to supply higher capacities. The heat pump extracts the heat from the BHE’s, supported by solar thermal collectors to charge the BHE’s in summer, ensuring efficient year-round heating. An extensive monitoring framework, including Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS), provides detailed insights into system performance during operation.

The HSE system demonstrated consistent performance under varying configurations and conditions. With all nine boreholes active, the system achieved a seasonal Coefficient of Performance (COP) ranging from 3.8 to 5.2, with daily energy outputs averaging 125 to 220 kWh/day. During December 2024, tests were conducted using three boreholes in different configurations at a reduced flow rate of 2800 l/h. These tests showed that borehole arrangement moderately influenced system performance, with the adjacent configuration achieving slightly higher energy outputs and COP, compared to the dispersed configuration.

The system also demonstrated significant energy cost savings of €954 during November and December 2024, attributed to a reduction in gas consumption by over 700 m³ compared to the previous year. These findings confirm that diagonal shallow co-axial borehole arrays are a scalable and sustainable UTES solution, offering substantial energy savings and CO₂ reductions in dense urban settings.

This study presents a thermo-hydro-mechanical framework to model hydrothermal systems within a simplified faulted synthetic reservoir, replicating current production scenarios in The Netherlands and Germany. The reservoir, composed of porous and permeable sandstone, and the confining layer, made of porous but less permeable shale, undergoes a process where cold water is injected and hot water is extracted. A fault, situated 750 meters from the injection well, is investigated to examine the conditions when fault slip could occur. Various fault and formation stiffnesses are modeled to assess their impact on fault stability. Our analysis reveals that stress changes induced by hydrothermal operations can lead to fault reactivation, with the stiffness contrast between the reservoir and confining layers playing a significant role in when and where fault reactivation can occur. Stiffer confining layers lead to reactivation occurring more closely associated with the passage of the cooling front. In contrast, a stiffer reservoir results in greater and more gradual stress changes, making reactivation more closely related to the total volume of cooled rock.

The TU Delft campus geothermal project has joint objectives of research and commercial thermal energy production. It has been developed and will be operated by the Geothermie Delft (GTD) consortium, a commercial cooperation between TU Delft, Aardyn, EBN and Shell Geothermal. This report gives an overview of the research activities that have been carried out during the implementation of the doublet drilling the wells DEL-GT-01 and DEL-GT-02, and the sidetracks DEL-GT-02-S1 and DEL-GT-02-S2 in the period June - December 2023. The research programme and related operations during the installation of the campus geothermal wells have been led by the scientific team of TU Delft department of Geoscience and Engineering. The project is part of the national research infrastructure for solid Earth science (https://epos-nl.nl/), and offers the possibility to do state of the art research on an operating geothermal system.
The main research activities that were carried out during the implementation of the geothermal wells included rock sampling in the form of a detailed drill cutting sampling set, full cores and sidewall cores of the caprock and the geothermal reservoir, open-hole logging of the reservoir formations and the installation of a fibre optic cable in the producer (still to be carried out).
Overall, the following samples and data were collected as part of the scientific programme:
- 15m of 4”core from the direct caprock of the producer reservoir section
- 71m of 4”core from the reservoir section of the producer
- 78 sidewall cores from the injector reservoir section
- 2400 cutting samples
- 3000m of open-hole and closed-hole logging data
Details of these activities can be found in the report and the related appendices. All data presented in this report have been published via TU Delft institutional data repository and can be found online as part of the data collection associated with the research programme of the project: Geothermal Project on TU Delft Campus Collection at https://doi.org/10.4121/85b3725b-80fa-4b0b-9db2-475bfd8f0265.

As the Material Point Method (MPM) uses both a mesh and a point discretisation scheme, the application of boundary conditions is difficult, currently limiting the flexibility of the method. While many boundary condition options have been used in the literature, the accuracy of Neumann boundary condition options has not yet been studied. Four options have here been evaluated for 1D and 2D benchmarks, although none of the options were found to be both accurate and generally applicable in MPM. However, for the generalised interpolation material point method (GIMP), the application of surface tractions on support domain boundaries or on a detected surface are valid options. Large differences between these two accurate options and the application of tractions at surface material points, a method regularly used in the literature, have been observed.

This paper investigates the implementation of a nonlocal regularisation of the material point method to mitigate mesh-dependency issues for the simulation of large deformation problems in brittle soils. The adopted constitutive description corresponds to a simple elastoplastic model with nonlinear strain softening. A number of benchmark simulations, assuming static and dynamic conditions, were performed to show the importance of regularisation, as well as to assess the performance and robustness of the implemented nonlocal approach. The relevance of addressing stress oscillation issues, due to material points crossing element boundaries, is also demonstrated. The obtained results provide relevant insights into brittle materials undergoing large deformations within the MPM framework.

A geothermal well doublet, designed with two primary aims; one of research and the second of commercial thermal energy supply, is currently being installed on the campus of Delft University of Technology, with the wells being drilled in the second half of 2023. The project includes a comprehensive research program, involving the installation of a wide range of instruments alongside an extensive logging and coring program and monitoring network. The doublet has been cored, with continuous samples from the heterogenous reservoir being complimented with more distributed side-wall cores, alongside a large suite of open-hole well logs in the reservoir section of both wells. Such investigation is rarely undertaken in geothermal projects. A fiber optic cable will monitor the production well, and will be installed all-the-way down to the reservoir section when the well completion is installed, at approximately 2300m depth. The reservoir is the fluvial Lower Cretaceous Delft Sandstone that is used as a geothermal reservoir in a series of existing and planned doublets in the West Netherlands Basin. A local seismic monitoring network has been installed in the surrounding area with the aim of monitoring very low-magnitude natural or induced seismicity. A vertical observation well with electromagnetic sensors will be drilled in a few y ears’ time between the injector and producer to monitor cold-front propagation. The total project is targeted to supply around 25 MW of thermal energy at peak conditions, next to this project a thermal energy storage system is planned to provide a seasonal buffer. The project is a key national research infrastructure and is being incorporated into the European infrastructure EPOS (European Plate Observing System, https://www.epos-eu.org/), such that accessibility and data availability will be as wide as possible. All observations will be included in a digital-twin framework that will allow better decisions to be made in future geothermal projects. This paper presents the implementation and initial data collection from the project, including an initial evaluation of the logging and coring campaigns.

This study presents a fully coupled hydro-mechanical framework for modeling hydraulic shearing in a mesoscale reservoir located at the Grimsel Test Site, Switzerland. The experiment was conducted on a ductile–brittle fault embedded in low-permeable granite. We observe that normal fracture opening increases flow channel recoverably, while fracture sliding locks asperities leading to a non-recoverable increase in flow. To couple these processes, we use a poro-elasto-plastic constitutive framework and employ a permeability function that depends on several parameters, such as dilation angle, in-situ stresses, residual aperture and maximum aperture. Our results capture the recorded pressure responses well, and indicate that the permeability changes by one order of magnitude during the experiment.

Nearly half of the Netherlands’ natural gas consump tion is allocated to heating, with direct -use geothermal heating being one of the available low-carbon energy solutions. A geothermal well doublet, designed with the two primary aims of research and commercial heat supply, is currently being installed on the campus of Delft University of Technology. The project is a key national research infrastructure and is being incorporated into the European sustainable and distributed infrastructure (EPOS: European Plate Observing System, https://www.epos-eu.org/), such that accessibility and data availability will be as wide as possible. All observations will be included in a digital-twin framework, which will allow us to make better decisions in future geothermal projects. The project includes a comprehens ive research program, involving the installation of a wide range of instruments alongside an extensive logging and coring program and monitoring network. The doublet has been cored, with substantial continuous samples from the heterogeneous reservoir, alongside a large suite of well logs in both the reservoir and overlying geological units. Such investigation is rarely undertaken in geothermal projects. A fiber-optic cable will monitor the producer well all the way down to the reservoir section, at approximately 2300m depth, in the Lower Cretaceous Delft Sandstone that is used as a geothermal reservoir in a series of existing and planned doublets in the West Netherlands Basin. A local seismic monitoring network has been installed in the surrounding area with the aim of monitoring very low-magnitude natural or induced seismicity. A vertical observation well with electromagnetic sensors will be drilled in the near future between the injector and producer to monitor cold-front propagation. This paper presents the initial modeling for the project and steps towards the production of a digital twin. Two modeling examples in the paper will emp hasize current operational challenges relevant to the project.