The site which hosted the COP26 climate conference has been identified as suitable for an “exciting” sustainable energy project that could heat up to 6,500 homes.
Cllr Angus Millar, the city’s climate and Green Deal convener, said there is still “considerable work” needed before “we are drawing energy from deep below the city” but the “path before us is now much clearer”.Geothermal heat recovery involves drilling deep wells to capture the natural heat held in the earth’s subsurface, which is then used to drive turbines or provide energy for a district heating system.
“How we heat and power our homes in the face of the climate crisis is one of the biggest challenges of our times. The potential found in a possible geothermal heat recovery system in Glasgow shows we can move away from a reliance on fossil fuels for domestic energy.” A council report, based on information provided by Halliburton, stated: “This is not the same process as fracking as the natural fractures would be stimulated through some water pressure, where fracking injects much larger volumes of pressure to create new fractures to release fossil fuels.”
A ‘heat only’ scenario was also considered which is an “alternative option should initial drilling indicate that an enhanced geothermal system isn’t viable”. That would “bring usable heat for a district heating system but not sufficient heat to generate power”. Council officials will now work with the SEC to cost the next steps, review funding options and consider approaches to investors. It is estimated that creating wells and building associated facilities could cost between £80m and £120m in total.