The Mine Water Geothermal Resource Atlas for Scotland is a Web Mapping Tile Service (WMTS) layer identifying optimal locations for low-carbon geothermal development using flooded mines. It highlights 370.3 km² across 19 local authority areas as most suitable, based on four criteria including mine depth and water head. The atlas was produced by the Government Digital Service to influence stakeholder decisions and increase deployment of mine water geothermal energy.
Use Cases
- Site suitability analysis for geothermal development based on mapped mine water head depths.
- Planning low-carbon residential or industrial developments based on identified optimal areas.
- Preliminary risk assessment for subsidence and pumping costs based on criteria for mine seam depth and water table.
- Comparing feasibility of 'open-loop with discharge' versus 'open-loop with reinjection' configurations based on symbology for shallow vs. deep water heads.
Strengths
- Covers a total of 370.3 km² across 19 local authority areas in Scotland.
- Site selection is based on four specific, documented criteria (e.g., mined seams deeper than 30m, water head <60m).
- Provides a first-pass high-level summary intended for non-experts and decision makers.
- Symbology maps calculated mine water head depths in 10m increments with clear risk/feasibility interpretations.
Limitations
- Description metadata is limited; actual data quality, file formats, and column-level documentation require manual inspection after download.
- Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
- The atlas provides a high-level summary and acknowledges focused expert input is required to integrate surface heat demand and subsurface resources in detail.
Provenance
- Source
- Government Digital Service
- Collection Method
- Web Mapping Tile Service (WMTS) layer created based on four selection criteria applied to mined seam data.
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Scotland