Seaham Garden Village
Mine water energy
One quarter of properties in the UK sit on the coalfields.
When underground mines are abandoned, the pumps that kept them dry are often switched off and the mines fill with water.
Along with the ability to use the coal mines for the cooling and storage of heat they could also provide all of the heating requirements for the coalfields population.
In theory this would provide enough heat for all of the properties on the UK’s coalfields.
This is a low carbon, sustainable heat source, which under the right conditions can also compete with public supply gas prices.
Our specialist mine energy team can provide advice, support and consultancy to a range of external stakeholders about projects across the UK.
Seaham Garden Village
In partnership with Durham County Council, and the Coal Authority, Tolent Construction are developing an exemplary Garden Village at Seaham, County Durham.
This development has the potential to make Seaham Garden Village the first large scale mine energy district heating scheme in the UK.
Seaham Garden Village is to be built immediately adjacent to the Coal Authority’s Dawdon mine water treatment scheme. This scheme protects vital drinking water abstraction from Durham Magnesian Limestone, and pumps 100 to 150 litres of mine water per second to the surface for treatment.
This mine water is warmed by geothermal processes to provide a continuous supply of water at 18 to 20°C.
With mine water temperatures unaffected by seasonal variations, there is a potential 6MW of low cost, low carbon sustainable energy available for local space heating use from the Dawdon treatment scheme all through the year.
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Presentations from Seaham Garden Village Engagement Day:
Durham County Council – Cllr Kevin Shaw – Cabinet Portfolio for Strategic Housing and Assets (PDF 1.34MB)
Tolent & The Coal Authority – John Wood & Jeremy Crooks – Mine energy at Seaham Garden Village (PDF 6.6MB)
Triple Point – Amy Fry – Heat Networks Investment Project: The Story so Far (PDF 2.1MB)
North East Local Enterprise Partnership – Andrew Clarke – Mine energy in the North East, and the Mine Energy Taskforce (PDF 0.26MB)
BEIS – Brett Hagen – Development of Heat Networks in the UK (PDF 1.3MB)
Nordic Heat – Luke Thomas – Procurement/Next Steps (PDF 0.19MB)
Downloads and other resources
Download the Seaham Garden Village brochure (PDF 9.3MB)