Springhill, Nova Scotia is a small town in the western part of the province, close to the New Brunswick border.

The town is home to the Springhill Federal Penetentiary. It is also the home of the singer Anne Murray, and the Anne Murray Centre is a major tourist attraction.

In the late 19th and 20th century Springhill was a major coal mining centre, and the site of a series of mine disasters. The last of these occurred in 1958 when 75 men were killed. The last men rescued came out of the mine eight days after the disaster, the longest time anyone had been trapped in a mine-collapse up to that point. Currently there are no more coal mines in the Springhill area.

The 4km deep coal mines are the site of one of the first geothermal heating projects in Canada. In 1988, the first project to use mines for their geothermal energy was commenced. The four km deep coal mine is situated in a hill and the tunnels that were excavated during the coal mining era, coupled with the large amounts of water that have since flooded the tunnels have formed a natural radiator. The water is heated at the bottom of the tunnels and rises to the top, cools down and returns to the bottom.

To take advantage of this geothermal energy, two holes - an intake hole and an outtake hole - were drilled down into the mine shafts to form a heat pump. These holes enter into separate but connected tunnels. Water at an average temperature of 18 degrees celcius is then pumped from the intake hole at 4 litres per second up into the manufacturing plant where the water passes through a heat exchanger. The water gives off some of its heat and is then returned to the tunnels at an average temperature of 13 degrees celcius via the outtake hole.

Reference: Frontiers of Construction Geothermal Energy Episode.

External Links

http://www.geo-exchange.ca/en/Pdf/Springhill%20NS_Ropak%20Can%20Am%20Ltd%20Factory.pdf http://www.caddet-ee.org/infostore/display.php?section=5&id=2935