Castleton Farm is one of Scotland’s leading berry farmers, employing c. 600 to pick berries in c. 400 acres of polytunnels, of which c. 10% are currently heated. The owner employed TRE to scope the potential for heating a much larger proportion of the polytunnels using deep geothermal energy. TRE analysed all available geological data, and compared this to oil field analogues, to propose several configuration options. The project is a cross between a sedimentary aquifer and an EGS project as it targets natural fractures in a sedimentary basin.
The basecase configuration: a near-vertical doublet targeting 3.5 km depth for abstraction of 75°C water for a total capex estimate of £6.5m, saving c. 2000 tonnes CO2e/year vs gas. Compatibility with temperatures and seasonal demands required for heated greenhouses were integrated in the techno-economic model.
Geological de-risking of the project has become the focus for a PhD student of the University of Strathclyde.
August 03, 2019
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