The Southampton District Energy Scheme is a

district heating District heating (also known as heat networks or teleheating) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location through a system of insulated pipes for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating a ...

and

cooling Cooling is removal of heat, usually resulting in a lower temperature and/or phase change. Temperature lowering achieved by any other means may also be called cooling.ASHRAE Terminology, https://www.ashrae.org/technical-resources/free-resources/as ...

system in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The system is owned and operated by ENGIE.

History

In the 1980s the

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rel ...

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 took the decision to create the UK's first

geothermal power Geothermal power is electrical power generated from geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. Geothermal electricity generation is currently used in 2 ...

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.Case study: Southampton
Greenpeace UK, 23 July 2007 Pumping started in 1986 from the Wessex Basin

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characterist ...

at a depth of and a

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied o ...

of . The system initially supplied only the

Southampton Civic Centre The Civic Centre is a municipal building located in the Cultural Quarter area within the city of Southampton, England. It comprises offices occupied by Southampton City Council, the SeaCity Museum, the Guildhall, the Southampton City Art Galler ...

, but was gradually expanded to serve over 1,000 residential properties, as well as the

WestQuay Westquay (formerly WestQuay) is a shopping centre in Southampton, England. It has an area of of retail and leisure space and contains around 130 shops, including major retailers such as John Lewis and Partners, Marks and Spencer, Zara, Schuh ...

shopping centre, the

Royal South Hants Hospital The Royal South Hants Hospital, known locally as "The RSH", is a community hospital in Southampton. It is managed by NHS Property Services. History The hospital was founded as a voluntary hospital in 1835 and moved into its first premises in ...

Solent University Solent University (formerly Southampton Solent University) is a public university based in Southampton, United Kingdom. It has approximately 10,500 students (2019/20). Its main campus is located on East Park Terrace near the city centre and th ...

and the Carnival offices; and is part of an enlarged city centre

system that includes other combined heating, cooling and power sources. By 2007, the system had of pipes, and was producing 40GWh of heat, 22GWh of electricity and 8GWh of cooling per year. By 2014, the system provided 7MW CHP, 2MW of geothermal power, and 1MW from biomass, saving 12,000tons CO₂ per year.Geothermal District Heating Southampton case study
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References

District heating in the United Kingdom District cooling in the United Kingdom Southampton Geothermal power stations in England 1986 establishments in England

History

See also

References