Dr. Paschalia Kiomourtzi, Prinos Subsurface Lead at EnEarth, delivered the opening keynote at the ALERT OZ Doctoral School in Thessaloniki, held from 11 to 14 May 2026 and co-organized by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the National Technical University of Athens, and Duke University.
In her remarks, Paschalia discussed challenges across the CCS value chain and explained that Prinos is well suited for CO2 storage as there is:
A clearly defined reservoir with proven sealing caprock
Favorable structure and depth, including stacked reservoirs, an anticline setting, a depth of about 3 km, and a hypersaline aquifer that supports supercritical storage conditions
Extensive knowledge of the reservoir
A tectonically stable setting
Capacity to store industrial emissions for many years
She also stressed that, as she put it, “97% of the chellanges in CCS projects are non-technical.”
Expanding on the role of geomechanics in CO2 storage, Paschalia emphasized that assessing a site requires evaluating the broader surrounding area, or storage complex.
“A strong understanding of the subsurface is essential for developing CCS projects. For the Prinos CO2 storage project, the entire Prinos basin has been studied using geomechanical tools and methodologies to understand and quantify stress changes and their impact on the storage site (reservoir) and the overburden during the CO₂ injection period,” Paschalia noted.
She added that geomechanical assessment is key to safe geological CO2 storage.
The Prinos CO2 Storage project will use advanced monitoring and simulation, including coupled Thermal-Hydraulic-Mechanical (THM) approaches, along with modelling to capture the site’s full physics throughout the project’s lifetime.
“The Prinos CO2 storage project highlights the growing importance of advanced modelling and data-driven approaches. Similar geomechanical assessments should be applied across all subsurface energy applications, including hydrocarbon exploration and production, geothermal, and underground energy storage,” Paschalia concluded.
The ALERT OZ School is a joint initiative of the ALERT Geomaterials network and the Zienkiewicz (OZ) School, bringing together leading researchers, doctoral candidates, and industry experts in geomechanics.
This year’s theme was “Computational and Data-Driven Methods in Energy Geomechanics,” reflects the growing importance of advanced modelling and data-driven approaches in subsurface energy applications, including:
• Geological CO₂ storage
• Hydrocarbon exploration and production
• Geothermal systems
• Underground energy storage
