Internship Geothermal Energy

Company Introduction

Royal HaskoningDHV is a worldwide engineering, project management and consultancy firm, with 6000 colleagues spread over 140 countries. We are all committed to working with clients and partners on projects that have a positive impact on people, our living environment and the economy. And that for 140 years already.

We are commercial savvy engineers, project managers and consultants who design smart cities, airports, ports, buildings and more. We reinvent industries; co-create clean energy and fresh water by using smart data and digitizing information flows and models. More and more, we connect the digital with the real world at an accelerating pace. Working together with our clients and partners, data and algorithms are used to translate insights into foresights. We help our clients in their digital transformation and we support our clients’ business with better and faster execution of their ambitions.

Internship Description

Geothermal Energy

The Dutch industry has traditionally relied on natural and residual gases. To make the industry more sustainable and reduce CO2 emissions in line with the objectives of the Climate Agreement, significant steps are needed. One of the four steps in our national plan is to move to renewable energy resources.

In contrast to wind and solar, geothermal energy can provide our baseload energy consumption. Depending on the temperature of the water that is extracted from the subsurface, it can either be used for direct heating purposes or electricity generation. In the Netherlands, the water temperatures are below 100˚C, making it a suitable resource for heating of neighborhoods, greenhouses or for district heating networks.

The Dutch subsurface is relatively well-discovered because of its extensive oil and gas history. The availability of data makes it easier to identify locations with potential for geothermal energy. In addition, the SCAN project is executed to map the Dutch subsurface through seismic exploration, with the aim to reduce subsurface unknowns and thereby reduce the geothermal exploration risk.

The problem

The Netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries in the world as well as the world’s second largest exporting country of agricultural goods. At the same time the country is facing an increasing number of severe droughts that threaten the groundwater levels. The Netherlands’ high population density and reliance on heavy industries and agriculture demand significant quantities of drinking water and the associated underground infrastructure. Consequently, the country’s subsurface is becoming increasingly congested. Hence, further development of the geothermal energy sector in the Netherlands could potentially exacerbate the already existing risk to our drinking water reserves.

Objective

To identify the (geo)hydrological risks resulting from geothermal operations, we are looking for an intern with a background in Earth Science, Environmental Science or Hydrology (or similar) to assist us in identifying these risks.

Royal HaskoningDHV aims to gain insights into:

• In what regions do geothermal energy potential and groundwater resources clash?
• How big are the risks of geothermal drillings for groundwater resources?
• In which ways can the development of geothermal energy and the security of safe supply of drinking water coexist, or even strengthen each other?
• Under what preconditions, or with what additional measures, can geothermal energy and drinking water extraction coexist?
• Which risks pose the major threats to the upscaling of the geothermal sector?
• How can we increase public support for geothermal projects in the built environment?

As an intern you have the flexibility to amend the internship to your personal research interests. This way, the focus can be more several topics, such as geohydrology, geological potential or project economics and feasibility.

Benefits of proposed opportunities

• You have the opportunity to perform an interdisciplinary internship and you will collaborate with a broad variety of experts in their field.
• The research you conduct helps Royal HaskoningDHV to give environmentally sound advice to operators and governments, in that way…
• We’re moving closer to energy transition!

Scale

The internship will improve our knowledge on environmental risks in geothermal operations, which will be used within our advisory groups Environment & Safety and Sustainable Urban Environment. Our groups are located in Amersfoort, Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

Resources offered

Royal HaskoningDHV offers an open learning environment so you will have easy access to all employees, expertise and digital tooling within our company. Additionally, you will have access to industry partners and site visits.

Learning opportunities

• Engagement with different stakeholders and experts in the field of energy transition.
• Understanding of the interaction between the deep subsurface and groundwater resources.
• Exploration of effective brain storming techniques, tools and methods to identify risks and mitigation measures.
• Structured thinking and communication (Pyramid Principle).

Company supervisor

Your company supervisor is Jeanne Steijn. She has a background in Geo-Energy Engineering and is an Energy & Environment consultant. In her current role she advices governments, industry and stakeholders in deep subsurface projects. She has a broad experience working on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), geothermal energy, underground hydrogen storage and stakeholder management. Clients include e.g. the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate, Shell, TAQA, Nobian, TotalEnergies, and local governments.

Are you our new intern?

Then we would like to meet you! Click on the application button and upload your CV and motivation letter. Do you have any questions? Please feel free to send an email to Kevin Zandbergen, at kevin.zandbergen@rhdhv.com.