Guidance

Mapping layer description and data caveats

Published 22 January 2024

1. Mapping layer description

The mapping layer shows:

• the distribution of building types above recorded mine workings, at a 5km hex scale
• the total annual heating demand of buildings above recorded mine workings (in GWh/yr) per 5km hex
• the total annual cooling demand for non-domestic buildings above recorded mine workings (in GWh/yr) per 5km hex

Each 5km hex displayed on the map contains at least 1 extent of a recorded underground coal mine working.

Total counts are presented for each 5km hex.

Building types include:

• residential, multi-address, including flats and apartments
• total residential addresses, including both individual properties and properties at a shared building address
• commercial addresses, including retail
• community buildings
• educational sites, including schools and universities
• industrial sites
• medical sites, including hospices, hospitals and medical care accommodation
• offices

The mapping layer has been designed for stakeholders to identify areas which may see the relevant surface level demand and the end-user base for mine water heat opportunities.

The mapping layer does not guarantee the potential of a mine water heat prospect in any of the 5km hex cells.

The potential for a mine water heat scheme at any location is subject to a thorough review of the relevant subsurface and environmental data by a relevant technical specialist or consultant.

2. Mapping layer caveats

The data layer is subject to the following caveats from the relevant parties who have contributed data.

The Coal Authority, Ordnance Survey, or Department for Energy Strategy and Net Zero hold no responsibility for any decisions made using the information displayed in this mapping layer.

2.1 Ordnance Survey data caveats

The Ordnance Survey data displayed in the Surface Information mapping layer (5km) is considered exempt and suitable for licencing under OGL v3, under the following conditions:

• the data is viewable only, with no path for download
• the data is hosted on the Coal Authority interactive map viewer
• the data shown are counts of Ordnance Survey AddressBase Plus data, and does not display information at a level of detail that would identify buildings or individual assets in the AddressBase base data

2.2 Department of Energy Security and Net Zero Heating and Cooling demand data caveats

A full description of how heating and cooling demand has been estimated in England, Wales and Scotland can be found in section 2.2 of the report Opportunity areas for district heating networks in the UK: second National Comprehensive Assessment

Please be aware that there are differences in methodology between England and Wales, and Scotland, due to availability of information sources.

The building level heating demand estimates in Scotland have been based on underlying data from the Scotland Heat Map. This mapping layer does not contain data for cooling demand therefore, to estimate this demand, cooling benchmarks were applied to Scottish buildings using the same method as was used for England and Wales.

The building level heating and cooling demand estimates in England and Wales have been produced specifically for this report, using a different approach to the Scotland Heat Map.

In general, it has been determined that the 2 methodologies used to estimate heat demand have led to higher heat demands being estimated for buildings in Scotland. A more detailed comparison can be found in Appendix 7 of Opportunity areas for district heating networks in the UK: second National Comprehensive Assessment.

Estimates of cooling demand for buildings in England, Scotland and Wales are only attributable to non-domestic buildings.

No estimate of cooling demand for domestic buildings has been made in the report.

2.3 Coal Authority data caveats

A 5km hex cell is one that contains the extent of any recorded workings. There is no weighting on coverage and therefore may be very little extent of workings in the cell.

The evidence of mine workings in a hex cell does not guarantee the possibility of a successful mine water heat scheme.

The feasibility or potential of a mine water heat scheme needs to be assessed in detail by a competent person or organisation by reviewing the appropriate subsurface and environmental data.