United Kingdom: “The abandoned coal mines in the UK present an enormous opportunity to us as a source of geothermal energy.”

Seaham Garden Village to be powered by unique mine water energy scheme (Sunderland Echo)

An ambitious ‘garden village’ development will be heated using a unique scheme using mine water energy.

The Seaham Garden Village development will consist of 750 affordable homes, 750 private homes, a school, shops, and medical and innovation centres. The scheme is in close proximity to existing commercial buildings, a supermarket and the coastal village of Seaham, with a population of around 21,000.

The new development will be supplied with geothermal heat from the Coal Authority’s nearby Dawdon mine water treatment scheme, which treats water abstracted from an extensive network of flooded abandoned coal mines in the area.

Mine heat can be an energy source that is unaffected by external factors, which developers say will mean it has a stable price not subject to future variations or rises in energy prices. It is a renewable energy source that also has the potential to have a zero carbon footprint, they added.

Jeremy Crooks, head of innovation at the Coal Authority, said the government body, is committed to creating a better future from the UK’s mining past, including managing many mine water treatment schemes across Britain. The authority estimates there could be enough energy in the UK’s flooded, abandoned mines to heat all of the homes on the coalfields.

“The abandoned coal mines in the UK present an enormous opportunity to us as a source of geothermal energy.”

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