634-Meter-Deep New Well Drilled for Heerlen Mine Water Heating Network in the Netherlands

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Heerlen, the Netherlands, has started drilling a new deep mine water well to expand the capacity of the Mijnwater network that supplies heat to the Parkstad region. Located on Terhoevenderweg, the well is being drilled to a depth of 634 meters, targeting an old mine gallery containing thermal groundwater.

The Mijnwater project began in 2004 with the concept of using groundwater from abandoned mines in the Limburg province to provide heating and cooling for buildings in the Parkstad region. Initially, five wells and an associated pipeline system were built in Heerlen, and in 2008 the first mine water heating plant in the Heerlerheide district became operational. Since then, as heating demand has continued to grow, Mijnwater has kept drilling new wells to expand network capacity and supply capability.

Mijnwater currently operates six wells, three of which are hot water wells and three are cold water wells. The well being drilled at Terhoevenderweg will become the fourth hot water source for the heating network. The groundwater temperature in the mine tapped by this well is approximately 28°C, with an extraction capacity of 240 cubic meters per hour. The well belongs to the former Oranje-Nassau III mine, which was the deepest of the Oranje-Nassau mines.

In addition to the Netherlands, the United Kingdom also has several large-scale operational mine water heating systems. Preliminary development work has been reported in Poland and Germany. For regions with a rich coal mining history, mine water heating can utilize large amounts of potentially abandoned mining infrastructure to provide renewable energy, and therefore remains an attractive development option.