---
title: "IMPACT: Investigating Mine Potential for Cooling and Thermal storage"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-064d6f"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-064d6f"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-064d6f.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-064d6f.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "MINING REMEDIATION AUTHORITY"
published: "2026-02-11"
---

# IMPACT: Investigating Mine Potential for Cooling and Thermal storage

Buyer: MINING REMEDIATION AUTHORITY  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-064d6f

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## Summary

The Mining Remediation Authority has completed the procurement process titled "IMPACT: Investigating Mine Potential for Cooling and Thermal Storage," which falls under the industry category of research and experimental development services. This project involved a direct award to the British Geological Survey (BGS), a component of UK Research and Innovation, based in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire. The award was justified by technical reasons, as BGS uniquely provides access to the relevant mine workings observatory in Glasgow. The services agreement, valued at £283,420.86, begins on 20 February 2026 and potentially extends until 30 April 2026. This contract aligns with the authority's vision for its Business Plan 2032 and thermal energy storage within mine workings.

This tender presents significant opportunities for businesses specialising in environmental technology and thermal energy research and development. Companies with expertise in sustainable energy solutions and underground research facilities would find themselves well-suited to pursue similar projects. The exclusive nature of this facility invites innovation in the mining and thermal sector, allowing businesses to leverage cutting-edge science to contribute toward decarbonising heat sources. Additionally, the possibility of renewal based on research outcomes offers sustained business growth for committed providers able to deliver unique technological capabilities. Businesses that can offer specialised knowledge in thermal storage and possess advanced research infrastructure stand to benefit greatly from such tenders.

## Notice

We will explore the technical possibilities and challenges of cooling and thermal energy storage in mine workings by discharging warm water into mine workings at the BGS UKGOES site in Glasgow. Thermal storage in mine workings is part of our Business Plan 2032 vision and Mine Water Heat Framework and is vital to understand if we want to unlock mine water heat advisory services and deliver value to coalfield communities. Thermal energy storage will be a vital technology in decarbonising heat and making net zero a reality. Underground coal mine workings could be an important thermal store for a number of sources including excess heat from data centres and for balancing heating networks. To overcome these challenges, we want to undertake the mine heat storage experiment at the British Geological Survey (BGS) owned mine workings 'observatory' in Glasgow. This is a unique research facility designed for investigating this shallow, low-temperature, mine-water heat energy and potential heat storage resources. It is fully constructed and ready to use and it has all the permits, licences and equipment in place to test heat storage. It is the only place in the UK that has suitable infrastructure to enable us to undertake this research. Scope of work This project requires BGS to manage, co-design, undertake and report on a mine heat thermal storage experiment at their Geoenergy Observatory in Glasgow. The exact parameters of the experiment will be defined in collaboration with the MRA. BGS will collect, process and analyse samples, details of which will be confirmed prior to start date. The outputs will include summary reports, produced by BGS with MRA contribution on the works undertaken and data packages including all the data collected at the Observatory during the experiment, which the Mining Remediation Authority will publish as an open access dataset. The IPR of new data will remain the property of the MRA.

### Procurement Information

In accordance with the Procurement Act 2023, the need for a specialist provider is justified where the goods or services required can only be supplied by a single supplier due to their unique capabilities-in this case, access to the BGS mine workings observatory. The requester has confirmed that the market has been reviewed. The UKGEOS observatory in Glasgow is a unique research facility and there is nowhere else in the UK that allows experiments to be undertaken in fully monitored mine workings. The technical expertise of BGS staff is also instrumental to obtaining and collecting the data during the experiment, and no one else would be able to provide the same service. The Procurement Act 2023 consolidates the grounds for making a direct award, which may be necessary where unique opportunities exist. Specifically, a direct award can be justified for reasons such as technical specifications, exclusive rights, or other unique circumstances. In this instance, the exclusive and special nature of the working environment, forefront of innovation and data, combined with the lack of market competition, supports proceeding without a competitive tender process.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/012227-2026 |
| Notice type | UK5 - Transparency Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Direct |
| Procurement method details | Direct award |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 11 Feb 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 11 Feb 2026 |
| Contract period | 20 Feb 2026 - 31 Mar 2026 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £236,184 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Pending |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | MINING REMEDIATION AUTHORITY |
| Locality | NOTTINGHAMSHIRE |
| Post town | Nottingham |
| Postcode | NG18 4RG |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLF East Midlands (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLF1 Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire |
| ITL 3 | TLF15 North Nottinghamshire |
| Local authority | Mansfield |
| Electoral ward | Berry Hill |
| Westminster constituency | Mansfield |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY (BGS) A COMPONENT OF UK RESEARCH AND INNOVATION (UKRI |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

### Codes

- 73100000 - Research and experimental development services

## Release History

- 11 Feb 2026 at 10:02 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/012227-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/012227-2026
  11th February 2026 - Transparency notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- http://www.bgs.ac.uk
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-064d6f. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-064d6f.json.