Closed coal mines will help in net-zero emission?

Innovation in Bochum

The city of Bochum wants to heat a new district in the future with the heat from old coal mines. As the DW states a few buildings in the Mark 51°7 innovation district in Bochum are already standing, but most of the former industrial site is still a large construction site. By 2027, offices, research facilities, and an innovative district with around 10,000 jobs will be built in an area of around 100 football fields. The old coal mines beneath the site will be used to provide environmentally friendly heating and cooling for the new buildings.

Jochen Rauber states: “This is a showcase project where renowned companies such as Bosch, Volkswagen and university institutes are settling. It will all be finished around 2026/2027,”

Work in progress

Right now One of the two boreholes leads to a depth of 820 meters. The mine water at this depth is ca of 28 Celsius degrees. The water in the other borehole, at a depth of 340 meters, is around 16 degrees cool.

A few meters from the drilling site, work is already underway in a finished office building. The international engineering firm ZETCON, the company which manages environmental and construction projects worldwide moved here in June 2023.

Marek Spisla states „I thought the idea was great. Simply drilling open old tunnels that are already filled with water and getting the water out of there and using it.”

Ambitious project

Bochum is currently examining whether other old coal shafts from the more than a dozen closed mines in the city area can also be used. Around ten to twelve megawatts can be generated per shaft. If enough old mines are connected to the city’s district heating network, many of the 370,000 residents could be supplied in the future. 

Prof. Rolf Bracke explains that this project is „the most modern heating and cooling generation and distribution system that I know of in Germany,” Moreover Bracke sees huge potential worldwide for geothermal use of old mines. They could become an “important pillar for the energy supply of the future.”