Mine Water Heat

To accelerate our path to NetZero we need home grown,  secure, low carbon solutions for space heating and hot water. Recovering heat from mine water can be part of the solution as mine water offers stable temperatures suitable for heat pumps and heat networks. To fully realise the potential of mine water heat requires a joined-up approach, and so we share data and work with partners across industry, national and devolved governments, local authorities and academia. Our data has been used in a number of mine water heat collaborations:

To explore the Interactive Map viewer, click here

1. We worked with the British Geological Survey (BGS) to develop an open access map showing how temperatures increase with depth. This map, published on our online interactive map, offers significant benefit to those planning, designing and regulating mine water heat schemes in Britain’s abandoned coalfields.
2. Working with the Ordnance Survey we undertook analysis of potential end users for mine water heat and heat networks. We integrated Coal Authority and Ordnance Survey data with other national datasets from DESNZ such as heating and cooling demand, to generate a better geospatial understanding of where the impact of this technology may be greatest and who might benefit.
3. Working with several Local Authorities, Welsh Government and DESNZ we have supported the development of a number of ‘mine heat opportunity’ maps, highlighting areas where potential for mine water heat schemes is greatest.

To learn more about the Gateshead Heat project, click here