Borehole drilling to be carried out in Sunderland geothermal mine water project

Sunderland, UK (source: flickr/ Roberto Strauss, creative commons)

The Sunderland City Council in the UK is seeking interested contractors for borehole drilling for a potential geothermal heating network in the city. These wells will be used to test the feasibility of a heating networks using mine water, possibly with temperatures reaching 40 degrees C at 1 kilometer depth. If successful, this network can save up to 4,100 tonnes of CO2 per year or about 70% carbon savings compared to gas.

The borehole drilling project is part of the £1.6-million (USD 2.1 million) Wearmouth Colliery Study that is supported by the £270-million Green Heat Networks Fund transition scheme.

Further studies are expected to be done to further evaluate the feasibility of using the extracted heat to support the new homes and other buildings being developed in Riverside Sunderland. The chosen contractor may also be tasked with the drilling of operational boreholes.

Source: The Construction Index