Mine water heat opportunities : Mining Remediation Authority

This guidance is specifically for waste heat schemes where mine water is already being pumped or captured at the surface for treatment before discharge to the environment. Waste mine water heat opportunities exist for customers to exploit the available thermal resource without the capital expense of drilling into mine workings and the operational expense of pumping from depth.

The Mining Remediation Authority is responsible for 80+ operational mine water treatment schemes across Great Britain, each of which has been designed to treat the specific local mine water issue within the individual constraints of each site.

Every treatment scheme varies and any proposal to utilise waste heat will need to be assessed by us to ensure that it will not affect the operation of the scheme and compliance with relevant consents and licences.

Lynemouth mine water treatment scheme, Northumberland

Some of our schemes include a biological treatment process employing reedbeds. Here, the heat that can be extracted upstream of the reedbeds will need to be considered to ensure impacts on performance of the reed bed are minimised.

In general, most mine water treatment schemes will be amenable to extraction of 5° C from the mine water, and those with higher water temperatures may allow additional heat extraction.

The type of development, treatment scheme, mine water chemistry and connection distance will influence how and where the heat is extracted.

Below, we have included two indicative process maps to help guide customers, developers and technical advisors on the typical steps and timelines of developing waste mine water heat opportunities. These are based on experience of recently constructed projects, and some details may vary according to site specific considerations.

All waste mine water heat schemes

Assessing viability of a waste heat scheme requires collation of heat demand, seasonal fluctuations and any phasing of the development.

This initial concept and feasibility work to map options and scenarios is usually undertaken by a technical advisor on the customer’s behalf, including gathering details of the treatment scheme. There are various grant funding possibilities to assist with this feasibility work according to where the scheme is located in the country.

Several waste heat projects are now in operation that form the basis for contract and commercial agreement.

Draft Heads of Terms are available early in the process when a partner engages with us during initial feasibility stage. In all cases we encourage engaging with us at the earliest stage of any assessment so that we can help guide you, provide you with relevant information and manage your expectations.

As projects develop into design phase, there are other potential grant funding options available for both smaller standalone heat extraction schemes and larger scale heat networks.

Larger waste mine water heat schemes

Waste mine water heat schemes with multiple end users typically involve several parties led by a local authority or housing developer. As the concept matures the lead stakeholder may appoint a heat network operator to design, build and operate the heat network, including connection to our mine water treatment scheme, and heat provision through heat interface units to connected properties.

Alternatively, once designed, they may choose to establish a community led company to manage heat provision.

These types of mine water heat opportunities are significant investments and typically involve street works and interactions with third parties between the mine water treatment scheme and the heat users.

A larger scheme, particularly in a new build scenario, will likely involve a heat network and energy centre containing the necessary heat extraction components and some form of standby heat generation.

*This diagram shows the flow of water and heat at our Dawdon mine water treatment and heating scheme, County Durham.*

A larger scheme could also take the majority of available heat from one of our mine water treatment schemes but instead of a distributed heat network, be relatively simple in terms of supplying heat directly to a single user such as a process plant, hospital, a swimming pool/leisure centre or a large care facility.

The development of a larger waste mine water heat scheme typically takes 26 months—to see a potential timeline for these types of schemes, read our guide on how to develop waste mine water heat schemes.

Smaller waste mine water heat schemes

Where waste mine water heat opportunities exist for single (or several clustered) end-users close to a treatment scheme, projects are typically simpler to design and much quicker to implement.

Heat extraction technology is straightforward (utilising a standalone heat exchanger) with shorter pipe runs, simple connection and no significant highway or street works. Such schemes can be designed and operational in a matter of months.

For example, the developer could extract waste heat by the immersion of an energy blade into one of our existing treatment lagoons or use other standalone heat exchanger technology, either upstream or downstream of the treatment lagoons and/or reedbeds.

A smaller scheme could provide waste mine water heat to an office or care home and would not usually involve an energy centre. In the case of a retrofit project, the customer may retain the original heat source as a standby.

The development of a smaller waste mine water heat scheme typically takes around 12 months—to see a potential timeline for these types of schemes, read our guide on how to develop waste mine water heat schemes.

Waste mine water heat opportunities list for Great Britain

A scoping exercise has been undertaken to help identify the most promising opportunities based on a range of criteria, and these are summarised in the table below.

The type and number of potential end users available, treatment scheme, mine water chemistry and connection distance will influence how and where the heat is extracted. Please note, this is not an exhaustive list. Other schemes may become more promising as circumstances change e.g. local development opportunities emerge. Nothing has been ruled out. This is about using mining heritage for our shared low carbon future.

Watch our mine water heat opportunities webinar for a more detailed look at some of the innovative projects we’ve been supporting to help realise more mine water heat schemes in Great Britain.

If you want to learn more about the sustainable heating solutions that mine water heat can offer, explore our articles or simply get in touch by emailing Innovation@MiningRemediation.gov.uk