Webinar: underground thermal energy storage (UTES): uncertainties and benefits

Underground thermal energy storage (UTES) offers great potential as a means of balancing seasonal heating and cooling demand for buildings and storing excess renewable energy at times of low demand. UTES systems are, if well designed, more efficient and cheaper to operate than traditional geothermal installations. However, UTES has not yet been widely adopted across the UK and this is partly due to the need for a better understanding of the subsurface processes and approaches for geothermal site assessment.

To address this need, BGS has developed two field observatories for research and innovation in thermal energy storage. The Glasgow Observatory focuses on the addition or extraction of heat from abandoned flooded mine workings and the Cheshire Observatory offers similar capabilities for the Sherwood Sandstone aquifer. Both sites incorporate a range of advanced instrumentation that can monitor heat flow and the effect of energy storage on the subsurface environment.

Join us for a special live webinar hosted by Vanessa Starcher and Michael Spence, BGS Science and Operation leads for the UK Geoenergy Observatories. The webinar will introduce UTES and offer all interested parties the opportunity to participate in a workshop to be held in March or April 2025. The workshop will focus on the efficiency of recovering heat after thermal storage and discuss ways to use  one or both observatories to compare and contrast aquifer and mine water thermal energy storage and recovery.

This webinar is free and open to all, but is particularly relevant to individuals in industry, local authority and regulatory roles.