Using mine water for network heating
A mine water heat project in Gateshead, UK, is being hailed as a success after six months.
The Glasshouse International Centre for Music is one of the buildings in Gateshead that has been provided with heat from mine water in the last six months
© The Glasshouse International Centre for MusicThere are great opportunities for coalfield communities to use heat from mine water, say Coal Authority mine water heat experts.
The council-owned Gateshead Energy Company project used an award of £5.9mln from Heat Networks Investment Project funding to install 5km of heat pipes, boreholes and a heat pump energy centre that can produce 6MW of mine water heat.
The first large-scale heating network using mine water has been hailed a success six months after operations began, reports the Coal Authority.
The energy project in Gateshead took three years to fully operate and has been providing hot water and heat to hundreds of homes and businesses for the last half a year.
The existing technology is said to supply secure, stable-priced heat to 350 high-rise homes, replacing the gas engines that were previously used.
As well as the Glasshouse, Gateshead College, the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art and several offices, a large manufacturing site has also been connected. Future additions will include 270 private homes, a new conference centre and a hotel development.
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