LAUSR

Abstract There is a global attention that the future energy systems will be based on renewable energy like solar and wind. The large-scale utilization of renewables in space heating and cooling requires large Thermal Energy Storage TES to overcome the varying supply and demand. The process of producing the best Underground Thermal Energy Storage UTES system pass through two steps: first, finding the best type of UTES system, second, finding the best locations to install UTES system. Both of these two steps depend extremely on the site specific parameters such that the depth to the groundwater, transmissivity, type of soil, the depth to the bedrock, and seepage velocity. The purpose of this paper is to explain some of the site specific parameters that the type of UTES-system depends on and explain the suitable type of UTES systems. This study considers Babylon province (Iraq) as study area. This province has electricity deficiency due to Heating Ventilating and Air Conditioning HVAC applications. The methodology of this study includes reviewing the literature that consider the study area, and using Arc Map/GIS to visualize some of the in-site parameters. The results indicate that the best type of UTES system for the considered region is either aquifer or pit type, due to the type of the soil and the depth to the crystalline bedrock. The hydraulic conductivity and the seepage velocity in the considered region are (0.0023–2.5) m/d and (1.3 × 10−6 – 3.45 × 10−3) m/d respectively. These conditions satisfy the standards which regard aquifer type.