Energy & Subsurface Solutions
We identify, quantify and develop ways to recover, store and use local heat and cold – and turn local energy into lower operating costs.
- Recover local energy: use seepage water, lake or river water, ground energy and waste heat.
- Reduce purchased energy: integrate recovered heat and cold with heat pumps and local networks.
- Reduce peak demand: store heat and cold and size the system around actual demand.
- Preserve surface space: place energy infrastructure underground, create new volumes and reuse existing ones.
Savings depend on measured flow, temperature, demand and system integration.
Our expertise
- Integrated energy team: underground expert know-how, site evaluation and seasonal thermal energy storage, with specialist partners for heat pumps, storage and network integration – in one coordinated concept.
- Evidence before investment: measurements and data, GIS opportunity screening, energy and cost model, risk comparison.
- Underground engineering: tunnels and caverns, geology and water, constructability, risk, safety and logistics.
- Delivery continuity: permits and tender management, owner's engineering, construction interfaces, commissioning, infrastructure and project management.
Services
Where energy and cost savings come from
Four ways underground space can turn existing energy and infrastructure into client value:
- Recover energy already present: water flows, ground energy and waste heat
- Use stable underground temperatures as a predictable heat source or sink
- Store heat and cold to match local supply with demand
- Reuse existing underground assets: tunnels, caverns, basements, storage and technical spaces, parking garages
How we prove the energy-savings case
A structured path from energy baseline to an evidence-based investment case:
- Establish the baseline: current energy use and operating costs
- Screen savings potential: where local energy can replace purchased energy
- Compare concepts: annual savings, investment cost and implementation risks
- Build the decision basis: the evidence required for investment approval
Energy Opportunity Scan
A focused first step for owners of tunnels, caverns, underground water systems, stations or constrained sites:
- Review the asset and nearby energy demand
- Estimate recoverable energy and savings potential
- Identify the most credible system concept
- Recommend the next step in the process and decision making
The result is a clear basis for deciding whether further engineering is justified.
Benefits
- Free energy sources and less purchased heat and cooling
- Efficient heat-pump operation and operating-cost savings potential
- Lower peak loads and potentially smaller connections and plant
- Fewer conflicts with surface infrastructure and lower land-use impact
- Faster permitting than surface uses
References
Coolcity, Zurich: renewable energy whilst preserving surface use
- Client need: preserve public use of the Selnau site while supplying renewable district heating and cooling
- Energy target: 55 MW heat / 35 MW cooling
- Decision question: which underground configuration and location can deliver the energy centre at acceptable technical feasibility, cost and timeframe?
- Our work: assessment of ten underground sites, with a focus on economic feasibility and urban integration
- Result: a cavern solution that delivers the original heating power of 55 MW
Example: Amberg Seasonal Thermal Energy System (STES)
Stores excess energy in the form of heat. The system provides efficient, low-loss energy storage completely underground and out of sight – a renewable supply that preserves valuable surface use.
- 6 GWh capacity
- 3 MW heat output
