PD Dr. habil.
Sven Fuchs
Function and Responsibilities:
- Group Leader | Hydrothermal Energy (since 2024)
- Group Leader | Exploration of Thermal Geosystems (2021 – 2024)
- Head | GFZ Thermal Petrophysics Lab (since 2017)
- Custodian | IHFC Global Heat Flow Database (since 2019)
- Lecture | Technical University of Darmstadt (since 2023) | University of Potsdam (since 2017)
Our research group, Hydrothermal Systems, focuses on the exploration, development, utilization, and integration of hydrothermal reservoirs within urban geothermal energy concepts. Our work encompasses the development of exploration methods, subsurface process modeling, and the integration of these models into surface-level simulations. We characterize potential reservoirs through field studies, borehole investigations (including borehole geophysics and testing), and laboratory analyses (rock physics and geochemistry). These data are incorporated into comprehensive (numerical) 3D/4D geothermal models. Our petrophysical characterization includes the assessment of hydraulic, thermal, and mechanical properties under (simulated) in-situ conditions. We have particular expertise in the temporal and cross-scale thermal analysis, integrated evaluation, and monitoring of the subsurface.
Research Interests:
My scientific interests include:
- The temperature and heat flow field of the Earth's crust and lithosphere, and its relevance to both fundamental and applied geosystem research
- Petrophysical rock properties (particularly thermal-hydraulic and geochemical-mineralogical) across various spatial and temporal scales
- Investigation and assessment of geological formations for their suitability for sustainable geoenergy use
- Geothermal exploration and development, sustainability analyses of geosystems, and evaluation of utilization risks and impacts
Research Focus of the Hydrothermal Systems Group:
- Exploration, simulation, and mitigation of discovery risks in hydrothermal systems
- HM (hydraulic-mechanical) parameter field characterization of hydrothermal reservoirs
- Sustainability analysis of hydrothermal systems
- Analytical, statistical, and numerical modeling of temperature and heat flow
- Geothermal potential mapping and resource assessment
- Scientific support for reservoir exploration programs in metropolitan areas
- Temperature field analysis of the lithosphere
- Coordination, management, and operation of the global heat flow database
- Conflict assessment between drinking water protection and geoenergy use
- Hydrothermal demonstration sites in the North German Basin
- Geoenergetic development of hydrothermal systems
Core competencies
- Thermal and petrophysical rock characterization (Thermal Petrophysics Laboratory)
- Borehole temperature logging (Temperature winch & tools)
- Monitoring of hydrothermal systems (Fiber-optic tools)
- Interpretation of borehole measurements, core-log integration, and advanced model parameterization
- Process analysis from lab to field across spatial and temporal scales (e.g., sustainability analysis)
- Temperature field, heat-flow density, and paleoclimate analysis
- Conceptual modeling of hydrothermal systems
Team members: Dr. Samah Elbarbary (Postdoc) | Eskil Salis Gross (Doktorand) | Robert Peksa (Techniker)
Guests: Dr. habil. Andrea Förster | Dr. habil. Hans-Jürgen Förster
Students: Leonard Berger | Zlata Trepalova | Muhammet Gündoğdu (MSc) | Viktoria Dergunova | Levin Giersch | Laura Günther
Alumni:
Scientists: Dr. Ben Norden, Dr. Florian Neumann, Dr. Elif Balkan-Pazvantoglu, Dr. Maximilian Frick, Dr. Fiorenza Deon, Dr. Claire Bossennec, Birgit Schöbel
Ph.D. students: Carolin Wallmeier, Akshita Kandwal, Jan-Kristian Piekarski
Students: Gwendolin Lüdtke (MSc), Esther Heckenbach (MSc), Roberto Miele (MSc), Franz von Bresinski (MSc), Saman Firdaus Chishti (MSc), Ruben Chaveu, Roland Freisleben, Abdus Sattar, Henriette Lieder, Robert Fröhder, Pia Schuppe, Alexej Dobrynin, Anne Nitzspan, Helena Liebing, Marvin Schulz, Denise Verch
Guests: Nishu Chopra (PhD student, India - fellow, 2024) | Harold Buitrago (PhD student, Colombia - fellow, 2024) | Ayan Dutta (PhD student, India - fellow, 2024) | Hubert Mazurek (PhD student, Erasmus, University of Wroclaw, Poland, 2024) | Seyed Mojtaba Hosseini Nasab (Iran, HIDA fellow, 2024) | Eswara Sidagam Rao (PhD student, India - fellow, 2023) | Alessandro Sabatini (PhD student, University Perugia, Italy - guest, 2023) | Karina Fuentes Bustillos (PhD student, CICESE, Mexico - fellow, 2023) | Mohammed Hichem Bencharef (Algeria - fellow, 2023) | Dr. Yibo Wang (Bejing, China - fellow, 2023)
Career:
- 2024 Privat lecturer (Technical University Darmstadt)
- 2024 Habilitation (Dr. habil.) in Applied geoscience and Geoenergy (Technical University Darmstadt)
- 2013 Promotion (Dr. rer. nat.) in Geology (University of Potsdam)
- 2007 Diploma (Ing.) in Hydrogeology (Technical University Berlin)
Professional experience
- since 09/2024 Group Leader (WG Hydrothermal Systems), GFZ Potsdam, Section 4.3 Geoenergy
- since 07/2021 Group Leader (WG Exploration of Thermal Geosystems), GFZ Potsdam, Section 4.8 Geoenergy
- 02/2016 – 06/2021 Postdoc, GFZ Potsdam, Section 4.8 Geoenergy
- 09/2013 – 01/2016 Postdoc, Aarhus University, Department for Geosciences, Denmark
- 04/2009 – 08/2013 Research assistant, GFZ Potsdam, Reservoir Technologies
- 09/2007 – 03/2009 Project engineer, industry, Germany
Projects:
- 2024 - 2027 Reallabor | Integrating a high-temperature aquifer thermal energy storage into a district heating network
- 2025 AGS Precamb | Labor: Vergleichende Studie Prekambrischen Krustengesteinen (PI)
- 2023 – 2026 ThermoBase | Thermal baseline data for the assessment of the temperature field in sedimentary sub-areas within the site selection procedure (PI)
- 2022 – 2025 PotAMMO | Potentials of aquifer heat storage in the model regions Mannheim and Offenbach (Koordination)
- 2023 – 2025 heatflow@innerspace (PI)
- 2022 – 2025 Tournemire/Chenille | Coupled beHavior undErstaNdIng of fauLts : from the Laboratory to the fiEld
- 2022 – 2025 WHDB - World Heat Flow Database Project Phase One (PI)
- 2021 – 2026 Global Heat Flow Data Assessment Project (PI)
- 2021 – 2030 Sustainable Geothermal Heat Supply in Potsdam (PI)
- Daueraufgabe Regional heat flow, temperatures and geothermal potential in the North German Basin (PI)
- 2024 Laboratory: Comparative study on the thermal properties of granite in southern Germany (PI)
- 2022 - 2023 MuschelHeat | Thermal properties of carbonates in northern Germany
- 2021 - 2023 Geothermie Schwerin | Thermal subsurface characterization for the geothermal site
- 2020 – 2022 geoPuR | Efficient exploration of the geothermal potential in urban areas (PI)
- 2019 – 2022 GeoFern | Geothermal district heating supply in Berlin
- 2019 – 2021 HI-CAM | Helmholtz Climate Initiative
- 2019 – 2021 GeoTief Wien | GeoTief EXPLORE (3D) Vienna
- 2018 – 2019 ESI | Energy system integration 2050
- 2018 – 2019 DeArGeoNet | GFZ-driven German-Argentina Network
- 2017 – 2020 Geotherm | Geothermal energy from sedimentary reservoirs – Removing constrains for large-skala utilizations
- 2016 – 2019 ITHERLAB | In-situ thermal rock property lab (PI)
- 2015 – 2017 Heat-flow in the Barents Sea (Tectonor)
- 2013 – 2016 DSF geotermi project | The geothermal energy potential in Denmark – reservoir properties, temperature distribution and models for utilisation
- 2011 – 2015 Interreg 4A GeoPower | Gethermal energy for Southern Jutland
- 2012 – 2013 N-DEMO | Neighbourhood Demonstrators / EU-EIT Climate-KIC
- 2009 – 2012 GeoEn | Joint research project on GeoEnergy
Research Boards and Committees:
- since 07/2023: Vize-Chair of the International Heat Flow Commission (IHFC)
- since 05/2021: Task Foce Leader (TF 8) International Lithosphere Program (ILP) of IUGG/IUGS
- since 07/2019: Member of the International Heat Flow Commission, Website and database custodian
- since 04/2018: Member of the Geo.X working group ’geothermics’
- since 03/2017: Member of the speakers committee, DGG working group ’geothermics’, German Geophysical Society DGG