£6.5m funding for scheme to heat homes from mine water
WATER from flooded mine shafts which has been heated naturally by the earth will be used to keep homes in one of Wales’ most-deprived areas warm.
The Welsh Government said the multi-million pound initiative will catapult Caerau, Maesteg, to the cutting edge of the UK’s green energy revolution.
Lesley Griffiths, Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs, has confirmed the project has been awarded £6.5m of European Union funding towards the total cost of £9.4m.
Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) has been investigating how the underground heat can be extracted using heat pumps and a network of pipes to warm 150 homes, a school and a church.
It will be the first scheme on this scale in the UK and will use existing radiators to heat homes without mine water ever entering residents’ properties.
Bridgend council said the current global leader using this sort of technology was Holland, where the world’s first mine water power station was opened in 2008 in the town of Heerlen – at the heart of a Dutch coalmining area that closed its last mine in the 1970s.
Construction work will begin in 2020 and the Government said it’s hoped the scheme could eventually warm up to 1,000 homes, tackling fuel poverty in an area which was ranked sixth in the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2014.
Ms Griffiths said: “Our ambition is for our nation to be a world leader in pioneering low-carbon energy. This is a cuttingedge model of generating a clean source of renewable energy, drawing on the legacy of our coal mining heritage. It will not only attract further investment to the area, but also address fuel poverty by cutting energy bills and has the potential to be rolled out to Wales and beyond.”
She added: “This EUfunded scheme will also create jobs both within the initial construction period and the ongoing supply chain, as well as offering training and educational opportunities in a very innovative area.”
Test drilling into the former mine workings of Caerau Colliery at the Old Brewer’s site has found that the void is full of water at a depth of 230m and that it has been naturally heated.
The British Geological Survey has been testing the temperature, chemistry and volume of the mining water and the findings of this feasibility study are expected by the end of next month.
An exhibition based on the findings is also planned for the spring.
The temperature of the water is thought to be an average 20.6C, warm enough to make the scheme a success.
Richard Young, BCBC’s cabinet member for communities, said: “The volume of water and its temperature makes the scheme possible and now we have been awarded £6.5m of EU funds from the Welsh Government, the next phase is to work through the full scope of the scheme and put everything in place to deliver a trailblazing project for the Llynfi Valley. It will also act as a catalyst for other energy project investments, possibly through the City Deal and other investment.”
The scheme is a demonstrator project for the UK Government led Smart System and Heat Programme.
The remaining funds for the £9.4m scheme will be made up by the UK Government, Energy Systems Catapult and BCBC. Other partners include: BGS, Kensa, Egnida, SPECIFIC, Carreg Las, Natural Resources Wales and The Coal Authority.