April 8th 2024
Largest renewable energy system to be built in Nottinghamshire
A geothermal heat pump project, worth millions, has launched in Nottinghamshire with an aim to save British Geological Survey’s (BGS) headquarters 30 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
Ruth Edwards, MP for Rushcliffe, broke ground on the scheme, which was launched towards the end of last week. The project, worth £1.7 million, is the largest renewable energy system of its kind in the area, consisting of an array of 28 boreholes drilled into the depth of 225m.
Forming part of BGS’s Keyworth campus decarbonisation plans, the new energy system will see the removal of gas boilers and will heat two buildings on the site.
News of the new project taking off has been welcomed with open arms, especially as more organisations are pushing to hit net zero goals by 2040.
Ross Goodband, senior environmental engineer at Pick Everard – the company leading the scheme – said: ‘This is a complex and fascinating project to be a part of. It has seen several members of our geo-environmental, project management and building services teams work closely with BGS and their partners. Our role was to carefully manage the initial investigation and subsequent installation of the borehole array, utilising the latest borehole drilling and downhole geophysical techniques.’
‘Our combined work has facilitated several research experiments, including core analysis, electrical resistivity, thermal modelling and a full suite of downhole geophysics, which will help inform our knowledge of environmentally-sound energy solutions, such as ground-source heat pumps, in our public and private infrastructure,’ Ross added. ‘We look forward to playing an active role as the site evolves over the coming years and continue our long-standing relationship with BGS.’
In addition, Steve Wilkinson, head of commercial projects at Cenergist, remarked: ‘Cenergist are proud to be supporting the British Geological Survey in their plans to achieve net zero by 2040. Our solution for this site will provide modernised futureproof low carbon heating and hot water systems to these two buildings, significantly reducing carbon emissions.’
Funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) and the UK government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, this huge project has helped to restore some faith that organisations are looking to install heat pumps, after research that was reported last month found that the UK are falling majorly behind on heat pump targets.
Daniel Crow, head of BGS Estates and Facilities, said: ‘This exciting project gives us the opportunity to blend our observation of the subsurface with leading low-carbon heating. The disruption to BGS staff will be kept to a minimum, with short closures of a couple of buildings to allow for the installation of heat emitters.
‘The drilling and heat pump installation is due to last around three months. The borehole installation should not impact on Keyworth site operations due to the careful planning and specification involved in the project.’
Image: Pick Everard