Fortissat minewater geothermal district heating project: case study

This study summarises the findings of a feasibility assessment for a potential minewater geothermal energy system in the vicinity of the James Hutton Institute’s Hartwood Home Farm, North Lanarkshire in Scotland’s Central Belt. This study aimed to assess the potential for Scotland’s first minewater geothermal scheme in a rural area with social deprivation. While focused on the specifics of the location, the project is conceived as a readily replicable and fully operational minewater geothermal district heating system demonstrator project that would act as proof of concept for duplication elsewhere. This study concluded that, with current support mechanisms, the scheme is technically and financially viable, breaking even or better with a network scenario covering the ‘representative’ communities of Allanton and Hartwood. As might be expected, there are considerable economies of scale, with the scheme becoming commercially viable when the network is extended to the town of Shotts