UK risks missing out on major geothermal energy opportunity
10 November 2025
The UK is overlooking a vast and largely untapped source of renewable energy beneath its former coalfields, according to a new report by the Durham Energy Institute, University of Durham.
The study, Coal Mines for Heat Decarbonisation, argues that mine water geothermal heat (MWGH) could play a major role in the country’s transition to net zero but remains almost absent from national energy policy. Researchers say that water filling disused coal mines has been naturally warmed underground and could supply a consistent, low-carbon source of heat to homes and businesses if properly harnessed.
An estimated quarter of UK properties sit above former coalfields, and the report suggests that MWGH could provide the equivalent of more than the UK’s total annual heat demand. Despite the scale of this potential, uptake remains limited, with only a handful of operational systems. The largest is in Gateshead, where a 6-megawatt installation supplies around 40% of the local district heating network’s demand.
The report stresses that the obstacles to expansion are not technical but regulatory and financial. It highlights unclear policies, a complicated licensing framework and energy market structures that make MWGH less economically attractive compared with gas heating. These factors, it says, have discouraged wider investment and slowed the development of new schemes.
Durham Energy Institute calls for geothermal heat to be formally recognised as a natural resource under a dedicated regulatory framework. It also recommends separating electricity prices from gas, integrating MWGH into regional energy planning, and establishing public funding to offset the initial costs of projects—similar to early support provided to wind and solar energy.
Professor Simone Abram, Executive Director of the Durham Energy Institute and Ørsted Chair in Green Energy Systems at Durham University, says:
“To unlock the potential for mine water geothermal heat will require a mix of financial incentives, regulatory reform and, most of all, leadership to champion this energy opportunity. Mine water heat provides a way for the UK to meet its net zero obligations and also to boost economic growth in often deprived former mining areas. The Northeast is leading the way, with the UK’s greatest concentration of mine water geothermal schemes in operation. As we lay out in this report, there are clear actions by governments and others that could mean the whole of the country can reap the benefits from our former mines.”
While countries such as the Netherlands and Germany have expanded geothermal heating in recent years, the report concludes that the UK’s progress has been slow, leaving a significant renewable energy source effectively hidden beneath its feet.
