UKÂ’s first geothermal plant gets green light

Geothermal Engineering Limited has received permission from Cornwall Council for three wells to be drilled at the United Downs Industrial Estate, near Redruth. Outline planning permission has been granted for a geothermal power plant at the site that will generate 10 megawatts MW of electricity and 55 MW of renewable heat energy. The company first revealed the plans last October, but had hoped that construction would already be under way.

Work on the plant will begin in early 2011 and involves drilling 4.5 kilometres into the ground to access rocks at temperatures of approximately 200 degrees Celsius. According to Geothermal Engineering, this will be the deepest onshore well in the UK. The plant's 55 MW of heat will be capable of heating 20 schools for a year, while the 10 MW of electricity is enough to power 20,000 homes. The plant will be operational in 2013.

The UK lags far behind other European countries in the geothermal energy sector. Germany has a number of small and large geothermal plants in operation and an estimated 150 geothermal power projects in various stages of development. The country wants to generate 280 MW from geothermal energy by 2020. Iceland's volcanic geography is ideally suited to geothermal energy, and five major geothermal plants supply about 25 of the country's electricity needs and 90 of its heat.

"With the development of our plant, we want to make deep geothermal energy a significant contributor to the UK's energy portfolio," said Ryan Law, the managing director of Geothermal Engineering and chair of the Renewable Energy Association's Deep Geothermal Group. "Not only can we contribute renewable, continuous power to the grid, we also want to change the way the UK meets its heat demands by offering energy-efficient, decentralized heat. The Department of Energy and Climate Change DECC has already estimated that deep geothermal technology could supply between 1 and 5 gigawatts of baseload, renewable electricity by 2030."

Professor Frances Wall, head of the nearby Camborne School of Mines at the University of Exeter, commented on the permission: "Cornwall has a strong mining heritage due to its wealth of natural resources, and it is great to see this heritage is being continued through geothermal development. To see a commercial project coming to fruition is immensely satisfying. Geothermal has significant potential in the UK and the region stands to benefit significantly from this development in terms of being at the forefront of geothermal exploration."

Geothermal Engineering was awarded a £1.47 million US $2.3 million grant by DECC in December 2009 and has raised a total of £10.5 million US $16.4 million to drill the first well and test the viability of the site. Assuming things go according to plan, another £30 million US $46.8 million will need to be raised to complete the other two wells and complete the plant.