GEOTHERMAL

Ground source heating for 2500 new UK homes

MGS, a UK manufacturer and supplier of geothermal products, is helping create thousands of new homes near Southampton which will be heated by 100% renewable energy.

 The One Horton Heath housing project aims to be fossil fuel free through use of ground source heating

The One Horton Heath housing project aims to be fossil fuel free through use of ground source heating

The major development in the town of Eastleigh, Hampshire, will create a range of homes, a community centre, a primary school and three commercial areas and will take 10 years to construct. Designed to be 100% sustainable, the dwellings will be heated by ground source heat pumps, with electricity generated by extensive solar panels.

Working with Synergy Boreholes, MGS is supplying Thermo-Loops and ground source heat products that will be placed in boreholes up to 150m deep to extract heat from the ground.

"This is an exciting project on a significant scale that will deliver thousands of much-needed sustainable homes. Ending the reliance on gas and embracing renewable energy is essential and we're thrilled to be providing highly dependable products to harness heat from the ground" Darren Portway, division manager of MGS, said.

One Horton Heath aims to use 100% renewable energy, including using no gas or other fossil fuels to heat all the homes and buildings. The majority of electrical energy will be generated across the development by extensive solar panels.

Synergy Boreholes has been appointed as the driller for the first 381 homes on the development, which will use geothermal loops filled with glycol installed into 6in diameter boreholes to extract ambient heat from the surrounding ground.

"One Horton Heath project is the largest ambient network for a residential development in the UK. We chose MGS for the supply of loops and grout, not only for the quality of the materials but for the service MGS provide. We've been using MGS for over 15 years and their quality products are second to none," Antony Jennings of Synergy Boreholes said.

The largest ambient network for a residential development in the UK

Beginning in early 2024, the next stage of the project will see header pipes and manifolds installed to transfer the captured heat from the borehole into each property. Over the following years, the installation will expand to include the other 2 000 plus properties on the development.

"We're delighted to be working with Synergy Boreholes to supply Thermo-Loops, loop weights and thermal grout to install into each borehole. We're proud that our products will help sustainably warm an entire community for decades to come" Portway concluded.

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