Acessing low-carbon heat from mine water
11th January 2025
UK: The UK government’s Mining Remediation Authority is to host a series of webinars next month to provide insight into accessing low-carbon heat from mine water.
The webinars are part of the Mining Remediation Authority’s work to enable mine water heat opportunities across Great Britain and will explain more about the process of developing a mine water scheme.
The three separate one-hour webinars will provide an opportunity for interested academics, industry professionals and local authorities to find out more and ask questions about the process.
On Tuesday 4 February (11.00 GMT), under the title Mine Water Heat Opportunities, Gareth Farr, the Authority’s head of heat and by-product innovation, will discuss current progress and an overview of current innovative projects.
The following day, Wednesday 5 February (11.00 GMT), Joanne Eynon, the Authority’s principal manager for mine heat licensing, will discuss Facilitating Mine Water Heat Schemes Through Access Agreements.
This will provide an overview of the new application forms and best practice documentation, giving developers and local authorities confidence in how to proceed with an application. The talk will outline the steps involved to secure the necessary permissions and set out our framework for reviewing applications.
The third webinar, Research and Development in Mine Water Heat, on Thursday 6 February (11.00 GMT), will be led by principal research and development manager Dr Fiona Todd, who will provide an overview of the mine heat research to date.
This will include details of the Mining Remediation Authority flagship mine water heat monitoring network in Gateshead, and how this will further improve understanding of thermal behaviour between operational schemes.
Some of the technical challenges facing mine water heat development will also be tackled, as well as future plans to work with researchers to fill any knowledge gaps and maximise the potential of mine water heating and cooling.
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