Recent advances and future challenges for delivery of mine water geothermal energy schemes

Mine water geothermal energy is emerging as an important renewable heat resource in former mining regions, offering opportunities for low-carbon heating, cooling, and thermal energy storage while supporting socio-economic regeneration. This perspective article provides an overview of the twelve contributions included in the Mine Water Energy thematic collection, covering resource assessment and mapping, drilling and development risk reduction, operational monitoring, thermal interference, climate change impacts, thermal energy storage, and regulatory and governance challenges. Together, these papers demonstrate significant advances in the understanding and deployment of mine water energy systems, while highlighting the need for continued research, collaboration and data sharing, coordinated subsurface planning, and supportive policy frameworks to enable their sustainable large-scale adoption.