Harnessing the heat

Scientists are digging deep into the ground hoping to harness the Earth’s geothermal energy to use in central heating systems

The site of the former Scottish and Newcastle Breweries will be home Science Central – a 24 acre facility – but first, engineers from Newcastle and Durham are drilling 2,000m under the heart of the city to harness geothermal heat from the earth and pump out water at around 80°C.

“Our aim is to rise to the challenge of putting a novel form of deep geothermal energy at the very heart of city centre regeneration,” explains project leader Professor Paul Younger. “It’s an incredibly exciting project. If we’re right and we pump up water at such elevated temperatures, it would mean a fully renewable energy supply for a large part of the city centre.”

The team believe their boreholes will be capable of supplying an everlasting source of low-carbon energy hot enough to heat any domestic or commercial central heating system. They hope the resulting heat could eventually be used to supply not only Science Central but also part of the city centre, including the Eldon Square Shopping Centre, home to 140 retail outlets.

“We spend approximately £1.7m per annum on energy and at present this demand is all met from fossil-fuel sources,” said Phil Steel, general manager of Eldon Square. “We can now look forward optimistically using deep geothermal energy to supply part or all of our future energy needs.”

The £900,000 project – expected to last six months – is being funded by Newcastle Science City Partnership and the Department of Energy and Climate Change.  The project may pave the way for similar projects across the country.