Renewable Energy Giant Project Planned for Nottinghamshire County
The British Geological Survey (BGS) has recently initiated a significant renewable energy project in Nottinghamshire. The project, worth £1.7 million, aims to replace gas boilers and heat two buildings on the BGS's Keyworth campus, as part of their decarbonisation plans.
The project, supported by Cenergist, is the largest renewable energy system of its kind in the area, consisting of an array of 28 boreholes drilled to a depth of 225m. Ross Goodband, senior environmental engineer at Pick Everard, is leading the project and has overseen the initial investigation and installation of the borehole array.
Pick Everard is also conducting research experiments, such as core analysis, electrical resistivity, thermal modelling, and downhole geophysics, to inform knowledge of environmentally-sound energy solutions for the project.
The geothermal heat pump project is aimed at reducing BGS's carbon emissions, with a goal of saving 30 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. Short closures of a couple of buildings will occur to allow for the installation of heat emitters.
The project has been initiated to help address the UK's falling behind on heat pump targets, as reported last month. It forms part of the BGS's decarbonisation plans for their Keyworth campus.
The project is funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) and the UK government's Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. The BGS recently launched the UK Geothermal Platform, a government-funded initiative providing a comprehensive interactive map and data to assess geothermal potential across the UK, including both shallow and deep geothermal technologies.
While specific progress updates on the Nottinghamshire BGS geothermal heat pump project itself were not found in the recent information, the BGS platform and the broader UK geothermal sector are actively expanding. National assessments confirm geothermal heat pumps are viable and increasingly cost-competitive.
For more detailed, site-specific project progress, consulting direct BGS updates or local government releases post-August 2025 would be recommended. The positive responses to this project, especially as more organizations are aiming to reach net zero goals by 2040, indicate a promising future for renewable energy solutions in the UK.
