Given the scale of ongoing issues with managing mine-water and its treatment this could provide a useful revenue stream.

EU funding for £9.4m project to use mine-water to generate geothermal energy

A multi-million-pound initiative at Caerau, near Maesteg, to generate green energy by using underground mine-water to warm homes has been awarded £6.5m EU funds, Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, announced today.

Water in the underground mine workings of the former Caerau colliery has been naturally heated by the earth, and as a geothermal source of energy, Bridgend County Borough Council is investigating how it could be extracted, using heat pump technology and a network of pipes, to warm around 150 nearby homes.

The scale of the scheme will be the first of its kind in the UK and would use existing radiators to heat homes without mine-water ever entering residents’ properties. Click here to read more