How to develop waste mine water heat schemes

Developing waste mine water heat schemes involves using naturally warm water from flooded, abandoned mines that has already been brought to the surface for treatment. The waste heat from this water is then passed through heat pumps to provide low‑carbon heating for nearby homes and buildings.

The process for developing waste mine water heat schemes involves checking whether a site is suitable, securing environmental permissions, and building a heat network.

The time it takes to develop a waste mine water heat scheme varies on the size of the scheme.

Smaller waste mine water heat schemes

Smaller heat schemes typically directly coupled to a single heat user could potentially use a submersible energy blade or other type of heat exchanger. This could potentially be open loop involving no energy centre, and little to no street works. The timescale for developing a scheme like this typically extends to 12 months, broken down as follows:

Larger waste mine water heat schemes

Larger heat schemes usually involve construction of a heat network (or extension to an existing network) and will likely involve street works between the Mining Remediation site and the heat users. As such the timescale for developing a scheme like this is longer, typically around 26 months. The breakdown looks like this:

Each site and project will naturally vary depending on the space available, the geography, and any other site-specific considerations. However, our experience in developing waste mine water heat schemes enables both timelines to be as efficient as they can be. Once the build phase was started, the energy centre at Dawdon in County Durham was built in just two weeks.

In the video below from IEA Geothermal 2025, our Principal Heat and By Product Manager, Peter Wormald, discusses waste and sub-surface mine water heat, and explains in more detail the process of developing such a scheme.

If you have any further questions, or if you’d like to talk through your proposal, please get in touch with us by email. For more about the sustainable heating solutions that mine water heat can offer, explore our articles.