“Barredo Colliery” District Heating | Mieres, Asturias, Spain
Mieres has been traditionally a city closely linked to the activity of coal mining. The closure of coal mines represents for the company Hunosa an important challenge. Between the innovative projects in managing the non-active collieries is the use of water from the mines, and the harnessing of its thermal energy. The actual project that now has been completed involves the development of a District Heating with a Generation Plant in the own facilities of Barredo Colliery. The heat pumps benefit the temperature of the water pumped at 23º. Subsequently it feeds, using an underground pipe network, two public buildings and a total of 245 dwellings. The network has a power capacity of about 2,2 MW, suppling energy to the heating systems and also for the domestic water. It keeps the previous natural gas boilers out of service most of the time. The new facilities are GHG-free and reach an annual CO2 emission reduction of 653 tons. These facilities have provided also the renovation of the industrial heritage of the region. The facilities has become the greater geothermal district heating in Spain, and a starting point for future projects. Barredo Colliery Heating District was co-financed by FEDER funds for the “2017-18 call for subsidies co-financed by the UE through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), allocated to companies, to promote the transition to a low-carbon economy in all sectors”. The amount of the subsidy was 503 k€ for an investment of 1.421 k€.
