Large-scale mine water heat project to be built in Seaham, County Durham, England
Start of construction at the Seaham Energy Centre in County Durham (source: Mining Remediation Authority)
Carlo Cariaga
5 Mar 2025
Construction has started on a large-scale mine water heating project in Seaham in County Durham, England which will supply heating to a housing development.
Construction has officially begun on a landmark large-scale mine water heat project in the town of Seaham in County Durham, England. The Seaham Energy Centre will soon provide heat for a new housing development, the Seaham Garden Village.
The Energy Centre is being built next to the Mining Remediation Authority‘s Dawdon mine water treatment scheme, tapping into the mine water that is already being treated there. Geothermal heat from the warm mine water will be captured and upgraded to domestic heating levels via a heat pump.
The mine water heating will provide power to 750 of the homes on the Seaham Garden Village development, delivered by northern housing association Karbon Homes, in partnership with Esh Group.
The district heat network project has been led by Durham County Council, with the Mining Remediation Authority spearheading the development of the mine water heating initiative. he project has benefited from a grant from the Government’s Heat Networks Investment Project which has enabled the project to be delivered.
“This scheme is a further milestone in our journey to harness mine water heat to provide sustainable heating solutions across the former coalfields,” said Richard Bond, Innovation and Services Director at the Mining Remediation Authority.
“There is huge potential to utilise our GB-wide water treatment facilities where warm mine water is already being pumped to the surface, and we’re progressing opportunities in multiple regions. The mine water heat scheme at Dawdon paves the way demonstrating a further route for mine water to provide low-carbon heat, building on the success of schemes in Gateshead and at Lanchester Wines.”
The Dawdon scheme began treating mine water in 2009 and the Mining Remediation Authority has been researching the possibility of ‘bolting on’ the heat feature to these treatment sites as part of their pioneering work in the geothermal arena.
This new development follows the success of the Gateshead scheme, the UK’s first large-scale mine water heat network, which began providing heat to homes and businesses in March 2023, as well as another pioneering privately funded scheme nearby at Lanchester Wines warehouses.
Unlike Seaham Garden Village, the Gateshead projects used boreholes, which were drilled up to 150 metres underground to tap into water in disused mines.
“We are delighted to have started work on what will be the UK’s first large-scale mine water heat project that uses a mine water treatment scheme, right here in County Durham,” added Councilor Mark Wilkes of the Durham City Council. “This innovative project will have significant environmental benefits – making use of currently untapped heat to keep houses warm, and potentially a school and innovation hubs, and in doing so avoiding the need to use non-renewable sources of energy.”
Source: Government of the United Kingdom
