Solihull Heat Network

Drilcorp Drilling Services were recently appointed to work with Solihull Council on a borehole that will test groundwater flows in an aquifer beneath the Tudor Grange Park. Read more from the Solihull Observer below.

https://solihullobserver.co.uk/news/undergound-low-carbon-heat-network-for-solihull-town-centre-moves-step-closer/

Update May 2019

In a positive development at the Tudor Grange borehole site, we have now successfully confirmed the depth of the sandstone aquifer at 300m. This marks an important first step in establishing what ground water flows may be available to make a heat network at this site possible.

Tudro Grange Solihull

This water bearing rock has proved to be deeper than expected from geological records, and challenging drilling conditions at the site have slowed progress as well as necessitated some additional investigatory works.
The depth of sandstone and the ground conditions means we are not currently active on the site whilst we agree some changes to the scope of work with the drilling contractor. We expect this to be concluded very shortly.
We remain committed to realising this exciting project, and now that we have confirmed the depth of the aquifer beneath Tudor Grange Park, the next step will be to establish what groundwater flows may be available to support the heat network.

Solihull Tudor Grange

Update June 2019

Drilling work on the trial borehole is now almost complete and the next stage of the project is due to start.

Test pumping is now taking place to find out what heat may be available from water held in the sandstone below the ground. The water being extracted is 300 metres below ground level and will come through the red sandstone.

Picture shows 300 Metres of casing to go into the borehole.

Update July 2019

Things are heating up

Plans to bring a new source of affordable, low carbon energy to town centre buildings have moved a step closer with the completion of our test borehole at Tudor Grange Park.

Despite encountering some challenging ground conditions we have reached the all-important sandstone aquifer. Work to drill and case the borehole has now been successfully completed and water testing work is currently underway to analyse what water flows may be available.

We have to consider a number of things before confirming the viability of the heat resource from the aquifer, including the power required to pump the water and the number of boreholes required to provide the heat we need for the network. However early results suggest a good volume of water at a higher temperature than expected.

We hope to release news of the heat resource results by the end of the summer. We are also planning further community engagement events in the coming months so watch out for details.

 

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