Ground Heat network Strategy at City Scale

In many parts of the UK and Europe geothermal energy stored in natural shallow underground water aquifers has the potential provide a safe, affordable, secure, and low-carbon source of heat for generations. Currently in the UK, ground source heat pump (GSHP) technology is only used by a small number of individual homes and businesses. By increasing GSHP capacity they can be used heat to entire streets via a smart network. Why has this not already been done? The technology for city scale networks is not yet developed and requires a new energy market based on large-scale GSHP capture and distribution networks. Before this can happen new technology needs to be developed and trialled to ensure systems are developed in a sustainable way. The potential champions of heat networks are Councils, who are tasked with approving planning consents for new developments. This highly innovative project, if funded, will design and build trial heat systems networks in less than 12 months, to prove that British GSHP network technology can be reliably deployed on an industrial scale in the UK. If successful, this new technology can be transferred to other UK cities and overseas markets.