UK Geothermal Catalogue Update: Expanded Data Powering Geothermal Energy and Decarbonised Heating Across the UK
UK Geothermal Catalogue Update: Powering a New Era of Clean Heat Across the UK
The British Geological Survey (BGS) has released the second digital version of the UK geothermal catalogue, dramatically expanding the subsurface data available to support geothermal energy projects and clean heating solutions across the country. With thousands of new data points, this updated catalogue strengthens the evidence base for geothermal energy, from shallow ground source heat pumps to deeper geothermal systems that can help drive the UK’s energy transition and decarbonisation goals.
Why the UK Geothermal Catalogue Matters
Geothermal energy relies on detailed knowledge of what lies beneath the ground: temperatures at depth, how rocks conduct heat and how heat flows through the subsurface.
The UK geothermal catalogue brings this critical information together in a national database, giving planners, engineers and policymakers a trusted scientific foundation for assessing where and how geothermal technologies can be deployed.
By consolidating data from across Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Not long ago developers were invited to shape Northern Ireland’s first geothermal licensing regime ,the catalogue reduces uncertainty and helps identify the most promising locations for geothermal projects.It underpins everything from small‑scale ground source heat pump installations to larger systems that can provide heat for entire neighbourhoods or industrial sites.
What’s New in the Second Digital Release?
The second digital release of the UK geothermal catalogue represents a major step up in both scale and detail. BGS has added nearly 14 000 new data points derived from around 1800 sites, significantly increasing the density and coverage of subsurface information across the UK.
A technical user guide for this release notes that it contains 1098 new sites plus 36 sites from the legacy geothermal catalogue that were not included in the first digital release.Overall, this amounts to around a 150% increase in the number of sites compared with the original digital catalogue, giving users a much more robust and finely resolved picture of subsurface temperatures, rock properties and heat flow.
The Core Datasets: Temperature, Conductivity and Heat Flow
At the heart of the geothermal catalogue are three interlinked datasets: temperature measurements, rock thermal conductivity measurements and heat flow calculations. Together, they provide the core physical parameters needed to evaluate geothermal resource potential.
-Temperature measurements show how warm the subsurface is at different depths and locations, often derived from boreholes or wells drilled for water, hydrocarbons or scientific research.
-
Thermal conductivity measurements describe how efficiently rocks and sediments conduct heat, which affects how heat moves through the ground and how well geothermal systems can extract it.
Heat flow calculations combine these datasets to estimate how much heat is moving through the subsurface, a key input to geothermal resource assessments and numerical models.
For developers and engineers, these parameters translate directly into practical design decisions such as borehole depth, system sizing and long‑term performance expectations.
Where the New Data Comes From
The expansion of the geothermal catalogue is built on an integrated set of new and legacy data sources that BGS has carefully collated and quality‑checked.
Key inputs include:
New thermal conductivity measurements generated by the BGS Thermal Conductivity Laboratory, which has been systematically testing rock samples from different regions and formations.
-Legacy datasets from earlier BGS‑authored papers and geothermal studies, now digitised, standardised and incorporated into the modern catalogue.
- A bottom‑hole temperature dataset compiled by the UK Onshore Geophysical Library (UKOGL), providing temperature readings from onshore boreholes originally drilled for purposes such as oil and gas exploration.
By bringing these diverse sources together, BGS has created a comprehensive, national‑scale dataset while also documenting the origin and reliability of each observation.
Open Access Under the Open Government Licence
One of the most powerful aspects of this second digital release is its open‑data status. The UK geothermal catalogue is available under version 3 of the Open Government Licence (OGL), meaning that users can freely access, reuse and adapt the data, provided they give appropriate credit.
The catalogue is distributed as a suite of Microsoft Excel files accompanied by a detailed user guide, making it directly usable by a wide range of stakeholders from consultants and academics to local authorities and community energy groups. Users are asked to acknowledge the source with wording such as “Contains British Geological Survey materials © UKRI 2026”, ensuring that the provenance of the data remains clear while encouraging broad uptake and innovation.
Strengthening Data Quality and Lineage
BGS has not only expanded the volume of data but also improved its structure and transparency. In this release, each observation is assigned detailed data lineage at the measurement level, rather than relying solely on dataset‑level labels, so users can see exactly where each value comes from and how it was generated. Recently also UK Launched a Geothermal Platform to Power the Net Zero Future
The user guide makes clear which datasets are considered legacy and what limitations they may have, such as older measurement techniques or less precise spatial coordinates.Importantly, BGS has ensured that all data included in the catalogue has been spatially located, checked for intellectual property constraints and cleared for release under the OGL framework. This combination of openness and rigour makes the catalogue a trusted foundation for both research and commercial applications.
How the Catalogue Feeds the UK Geothermal Platform
The geothermal catalogue is not a standalone product,it is a core component of the wider UK Geothermal Platform, launched in 2025 as a national information hub for geothermal potential. Funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and delivered by BGS, the platform integrates multiple datasets to produce summary layers that map geothermal opportunity across the country.
These summary layers cover a range of technologies, including shallow ground source systems, mine water heat schemes and deeper geothermal resources, offering a high‑level view of where geothermal energy may be most viable. Through an online map explorer and dedicated data access pages, users can move seamlessly from these overviews to the underlying catalogue data, enabling everything from quick desktop assessments to detailed site‑specific studies.
Supporting Heat Policy, Zoning and Planning
The UK geothermal catalogue and platform have been explicitly designed to serve the needs of heat policy and planning specialists at national, regional and local scales. As the UK develops heat network zoning and long‑term decarbonised heat strategies, understanding where geothermal resources can be harnessed becomes increasingly important.
For national policy teams, the platform provides a consistent evidence base to identify priority regions for geothermal exploration and to evaluate how geothermal options compare with other low‑carbon heat sources. For local authorities and planners, the data can help answer practical questions such as whether a town or city can retrofit ground source heat pumps, exploit mine water heat or plan new developments around strategic geothermal resources.
Enabling Ground Source Heat Pump Deployment
On the shallow end of the geothermal spectrum, the catalogue is a valuable tool for the design and deployment of ground source heat pumps. Ground source systems rely on the relatively stable temperatures just below the surface, and their performance depends on how easily heat can be extracted or injected into the surrounding geology.
By providing detailed thermal conductivity data and temperature profiles, the catalogue helps engineers accurately size boreholes, arrays and heat exchangers, avoiding both oversizing (which raises costs) and undersizing (which can reduce efficiency or reliability) This is particularly important for larger installations such as district heating schemes or commercial developments, where subsurface thermal behaviour can significantly influence long‑term performance.
Unlocking Deep Geothermal and Mine Water Heat
Beyond shallow systems, the updated catalogue supports assessments of deeper geothermal resources and mine water heat schemes.Hot sedimentary aquifers and fault‑controlled reservoirs can provide higher‑temperature heat suitable for industrial processes or, in some cases, power generation, but they require robust data on temperature at depth and heat flow.
The inclusion of bottom‑hole temperature data from UKOGL strengthens the evidence base for identifying and characterising these deeper resources. In former coalfield and mining regions, where extensive subsurface galleries are now flooded, the catalogue’s temperature and heat flow information helps evaluate the potential of mine water heat projects that can provide low‑carbon heating to nearby communities.These schemes turn a legacy of fossil fuel extraction into a modern asset for the energy transition.
Building a National Geoscience Foundation for the Energy Transition
BGS emphasises that the geothermal catalogue is part of a broader national geoscience effort to support the UK’s energy transition, decarbonisation and wider environmental goals. Since August 2025, the UK Geothermal Platform has hosted over 90 datasets and more than 60 reports, making it one of the most comprehensive geothermal information resources in Europe.
By standardising and opening up geoscientific data, BGS reduces duplication of effort and provides a trusted baseline on which both public and private sectors can build.This is essential for long‑term planning in areas such as heat infrastructure, industrial decarbonisation and sustainable urban development, where subsurface conditions play a critical but often invisible role.
Opportunities and Considerations for Users
While the second digital release greatly enhances the availability and quality of geothermal data, BGS is clear that it should be used as a starting point rather than a definitive answer for every site. National‑scale datasets inevitably have limitations, especially in complex geological settings or at depths where direct measurements are sparse.
The user guide encourages practitioners to combine catalogue data with more detailed local investigations, such as new borehole measurements, geophysical surveys or site‑specific modelling. Nonetheless, by clearly documenting uncertainties, data lineage and limitations, the catalogue allows users to make informed, risk‑aware decisions and to focus their detailed investigations on the most promising opportunities.
A Catalyst for Geothermal Growth and Clean Heat
The updated UK geothermal catalogue stands as a powerful enabler of geothermal growth and clean heat innovation across the UK.By adding nearly 14 000 new data points and releasing them openly, BGS has lowered barriers to entry for developers, investors and communities interested in geothermal solutions.
As more stakeholders engage with the UK Geothermal Platform and as new data continues to be integrated, the UK’s understanding of its underground heat resources will become ever more detailed and actionable.In a decade defined by the urgent need to decarbonise heating and strengthen energy security, this kind of transparent, high‑quality geoscience infrastructure is not just a scientific achievement—it is a cornerstone of a more resilient, low‑carbon future.
Source: British Geological Survey
Connect with us:LinkedIn, X
Comments
Post a Comment