By Vanessa Starcher
The Glasgow Observatory in Cuningar Loop, first established in 2019, is now ready for use by researchers and stakeholders.
BGS is establishing a network of observatories to deliver essential new data from the underground. The UK Geoenergy Observatory in Glasgow is a research facility designed for investigating shallow, low-temperature, mine-water heat energy and potential heat storage resources. The observatory site is typical of towns and cities with a post-industrial urban and coalfield legacy, where the greatest demand for decarbonising heat lies. The Glasgow Observatory consists of:
- five mine-water characterisation and monitoring boreholes
- five environmental baseline characterisation and monitoring boreholes
- one seismic monitoring borehole
After undergoing several phases since its inception in 2019, the facility is now fully open for both commercial and academic researchers to undertake a range of experiments. It is hoped that these studies will assist in the de-risking of mine-water geothermal and advise policymakers on the adoption of this energy resource. The official opening event in December 2021 marked the end of the drilling stage, when eleven boreholes ranging from 16 m to 93 m in depth were drilled within four compounds. This enabled researchers and interested commercial companies to attend the facility and run tests to increase their understanding of the localised geology and hydrogeology of the area.
The final stage of construction saw the installation of a mine-water geothermal system converting four of the mine-water boreholes into reversible abstraction/injection wells. A heat unit was installed on Site 1, which contains three different heat exchangers and a control unit to monitor the various downhole and surface sensors. The site was handed across to BGS on April 18 2023.
BGS, which operates the observatory, will now focus on the commissioning phase, as the system begins operation in earnest. Various tests of the equipment are underway, including running the downhole pumps for a prolonged period to start to understand how the hydrogeological system will change with time. Similarly, both heat abstraction (heat is removed from the mine water) and heat injection (heat is applied to the mine water) tests are planned for the near future. Any changes in temperature, pressure or conductivity will be recorded and reviewed by BGS scientists. These changes will be compared to the ongoing environmental baseline data that has been collected since 2020.
With the site fully operational and open to stakeholders, this is a very exciting time for the UK Geoenergy Observatory in Glasgow and the wider UK geoenergy sector.
Contact
If you have further questions or wish to visit the facility, please contact UK Geoenergy Observatories Enquiries (ukgeosenquiries@bgs.ac.uk).
