Erda’s geo-exchange benefiting from July heatwave
Last month brought unprecedented weather to the UK including the longest-range of consecutive Amber warnings ever and, for the first time, a red warning – issued for extreme heat by the Met Office. While much of the UK’s infrastructure struggled as the operating conditions would have exceeded design, Erda’s technology proved to be resilient and used energy provided by the heat wave to charge the Earth and prepare for the cold winter season that lay ahead.
At an Erda site located in the South of England, the weather in July was exceptionally warm. During the 6 warmest days in July, Erda used the waste heat produced in the supermarket cooling process to store more than 9,000 kWh of thermal energy in the ground. Conversely, the 6 coolest days in July stored less than half that amount of thermal energy with 4,300 kWh.
The graph below shows the maximum temperatures reached on the warmest days of the month and the cumulative thermal energy stored in our Erda | deep boreholes.
Fig. 1 Erda | deep thermal energy July 2022
We ended the unusually warm July with enough recovered heat stored in Erda | deep to heat the supermarket on a cold winter day AND a further 3 homes in the UK for the whole year.
With high temperatures like this set to become more common, it is key that technologies are implemented which can keep refrigeration systems running smoothly and occupants comfortable. Our Erda | deep technology fulfills both criteria, while allowing clients to significantly lower their carbon footprint.