Wine company leverages heat from disused mines
Lanchester Wines Cellars becomes the first private UK business to use heat from underground coal mine water.
Aerial view of a closed, abandoned coal mine at Tower Colliery in South Wales, UK
© Richard Whitcombe/ShutterstockLanchester Wines has signed an updated access agreement with the Mining Remediation Authority (MRA), extending the partnership through to 2044.
The wine importer and merchant has reportedly invested around £13mln in renewable heat and energy generation across its sites. This has helped show mine water heat can be a commercially viable and scaleable clean energy solution.
Its two open-loop water source heat pumps at its warehouses in Gateshead, UK, have a combined capacity of 4MW and can heat more than 33,000m2 of warehouse space.
Lanchester Wines has now helped design a framework to make it easier for other private sector businesses to use mine water heat. I
ts updated agreement with the MRA introduces greater flexibility, including provisions for business transitions and operational changes, while removing unnecessary barriers to access.
The business has reportedly gone above and beyond legislative requirements to reduce its environmental impact, including being powered almost entirely by renewable wind and solar energy.
Veronica Cleary, Director of Lanchester Wines, says, ‘We are proud to have partnered closely with the MRA to shape Great Britain’s Heat Access Agreement, creating a clearer route for businesses to collaborate on geothermal projects…we have helped establish a framework that balances government priorities with commercial reality.’
The agreement reflects the MRA’s broader ambition to grow commercial engagement with the UK’s mine water heat resource, which it says has the potential to provide secure, low-carbon heating to homes, businesses and communities across former coalfield areas.
