Geothermal Power In The United Kingdom
The potential for exploiting geothermal energy in the United Kingdom on a commercial basis was initially examined by the Department of Energy in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis. Several regions of the country were identified, but interest in developing them was lost as petroleum prices fell.
Groundwater in Permo-Triassic sandstones in the UK has the potential to provide an exploitable geothermal resource at depths of between 1 and 3 km. Since 1979 the basins of principal interest are East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, Wessex, Worcester, Cheshire, West Lancashire, Carlisle, and basins in Northern Ireland. In addition, some of these basins are in areas of elevated heat flow, or are overlain by less thermally conductive strata, providing in effect an insulating layer. The following table lists the primary UK Geothermal aquifer resources for areas where the temperature is greater than 40 °C and the transmissivity is greater than 10 Dm, except as indicated:
| Aquifer/Basin name | Geologiocal Formation | Geothermal resource (Exa-joules) |
Identified resource(1) (Exa-joules) |
Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire | Sherwood Sandstone | 99 | 6.7 | ? |
| Basal Permian Sands | 6.7 | 0.9(2) | ? | |
| Wessex | Sherwood Sandstone | 22.9 | 3.2(3) | 1,700 to 2,200 |
| Worcester | Permo-Triassic (undifferentiated) | 12 | 1.4 | 2,500 |
| Cheshire | Sherwood Sandstone | 16.9 | 2.1 | 4,000 |
| Permian, including some Triassic | 27.9 | 3.8 | 4,000 | |
| Northern Ireland | Sherwood Sandstone | 35.4 | 4.7 | ? |
| (1) Identified resource calculated assuming an end of process heat rejection temperature of 30 °C; direct use of the fluid, and re-injection of the fluid after use. (2) Transmissivity ≥5 Dm |
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In the 1980s, the United Kingdom Department of Energy undertook a research and development programme to examine the potential of geothermal aquifers in the UK. However after some initial success drilling a well in the Wessex Basin in 1981, it was deemed too small to be commercially viable. The project was abandoned by the Department of Energy, but Southampton City Council refused to let the project fall and took the decision to create the UK's first geothermal power scheme. This was undertaken as part of a plan to become a ‘self sustaining city’ in energy generation, promoted by then leader of the city council Alan Whitehead. The scheme was eventually developed in conjunction with French-owned company COFELY District Energy and the Southampton Geothermal Heating Company was then established. Construction started in 1987 on a well to draw water from the Wessex Basin aquifer at a depth of 1,800 metres and a temperature of 76 °C.
The scheme now heats a number of buildings in the city centre, including the Southampton Civic Centre and the WestQuay shopping centre, by providing 8% of the heat distributed by a larger city centre district heating system that includes other combined heat and power sources. Geothermal energy provides 16 GWh of heat per year.
Another area with great potential for geothermal energy is in the North Sea, on the continental shelf where the Earth's crust is thin (less than 10 kilometres). The offshore platforms extract hydrocarbons from this region, but each year the output falls by 5% and soon it will be uneconomic to continue using these platforms for fossil fuel extraction. An alternate use could be geothermal power generation. A 1986 work on this was undertaken by Total Energy Conservation and Management Co. Ltd. An overview document was produced called "Single Borehole Geothermal Energy Extraction System for Electrical Power Generation".
Read more about Geothermal Power In The United Kingdom: Hot Rock Schemes
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