Across the South West of England, around 20 sites have been identified as suitable deep geothermal power. A large proportion of these are in Cornwall.
What makes the area ideal is its geology. An extensive research project during the 1980s showed that granite outcrops are comparatively close to the surface, at around 4km down. Based on that, Geothermal Engineering Ltd, building on the experience of the original Hot Dry Rock research project and Cornish consultancy GeoScience, has decided to construct a £40m power plant near Redruth in the heart of the county. The plant will supply 10MW of base load electricity to the National Grid and up to 55MW of renewable heat for local use.
A second large-scale plant, located at the Eden Project and aims to power the Eden Project site. See a video with developer, EGS Energy, that gives an insight into the development.
But it’s not just specialist companies that can benefit from these natural advantages. Already, a number of locations in Cornwall including homes and schools have introduced ground-source heat pumps, generating renewable energy from their own premises. The introduction of the UK government’s Renewable Heat Incentive – the world’s first scheme to offer cash incentives for generation of heat from renewable sources – from April 2011 is set to increase the demand for such technology, and so increase opportunities for businesses.
It is also important to underline the skills advantage Cornwall has, as home to one of the world's foremost centres of earth science: the Camborne School of Mines (part of the Combined Universities in Cornwall).
Related Links
Visit GeoScience, the pioneering Cornish geothermal company
Visit EGS Energy
Find out more about geothermal energy research at the Camborne School of Mines