The Scottish university has secured a £1mn (US$1.3mn) public grant for a geothermal feasibility pilot study to unlock the potential lying under the ground.
The Aberdeen Geothermal Feasibility Pilot (AGFP) will be an ambitious city-wide collaboration to explore Aberdeen’s geological potential and help pave the way for low carbon heating solutions.
The project, which has been funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and led by the University, will see an instrumented borehole drilled to a depth of over 500 metres on King’s College campus.
Co-leader of the project, Professor Clare Bond, said, “This project will be the first to provide the in-field geological data needed to help bring our initiative and others being considered across the city to reality. The borehole will provide direct subsurface temperature, geology and hydrology data and provide the starting point to test the potential for heat generated by granite at depth to be used to heat homes, the University and other buildings across the city.”
The borehole findings will be extended using a 3D image of the rocks up to 5km beneath the city. Natural and man-made vibrations from waves, wind and traffic will be collected over one to two months which will map out the granite and other subsurface structures where geothermal heating will work best.
David Cornwell, Project Lead and Seismologist, commented, “Coupling borehole data with the city-wide model will reveal the true potential of geothermal heating in Aberdeen. The data we collect will be openly available, not just helping de-risk future geothermal investment and accelerating Aberdeen’s transition to a sustainable energy future, but providing data that can be used to predict the geothermal potential of other places across the UK.”
The UKRI funding enables the first phase of a larger vision to integrate geothermal into the city’s energy mix by integrating technical development and research as part of the energy transition.