Geothermal Engineering has confirmed that drilling will start this week at the UK’s first deep geothermal electricity plant in Cornwall, which will deliver up to 3MW of electricity to the national grid.
Work will begin at the site at the United Downs Industrial Estate near St Day, which will see two deep geothermal wells drilled into the granitic rock.
The deepest well will reach 4.5km. Water will be pumped from the deepest well at a temperature of approximately 190 degrees Celsius, fed through a heat exchanger at the surface and then re-injected into the ground to pick up more heat from the rocks in a continuous cycle.
The extracted heat will be converted into electricity and supplied to the National Grid. Geothermal Engineering is hoping to repeat the process at other suitable sites in Cornwall and Devon.
The project has received approximately £18m in funding, including £10.6m from the European Regional Development Fund, £2.4m from Cornwall Council, £5m from private investors through Abundance Capital.
Delivery partners for the project include GeoScience, The British Geological Survey, and the University of Plymouth Sustainable Earth Institute.
Managing director of Geothermal Engineering Ryan Law said: “The largely untapped geothermal resources in the UK have the potential to deliver up to 20% of the UK’s electricity and heat energy needs in a reliable and sustainable way.
“As coal fired power stations are switched off, the need for renewable, baseload energy can only increase. It is incredibly exciting to see this pioneering project getting off the ground in what we hope will be the start of many similar initiatives across the UK.”
Meanwhile, global engineering consultancy Arup has signed an agreement to purchase renewable energy guarantee of origin certificates from GEL equating to 9000 megawatt-hours year.