The future is approaching!

The Cornwall Council has given planning permission for the UK’s first commercial deep geothermal power plant to be constructed near Redruth.

Geothermal Engineering, the company behind the project, plan to drill three wells at a depth of 4.5km to reach rocks at temperatures of about 200°C, making this the deepest onshore well in the country. The plant’s 55 MW capacity of renewable heat energy would provide heat for the local area. Additionally, its 10 MW capacity of electrical energy would be enough to power 20,000 homes and could be fed directly into the national grid.
Last year, Geothermal Engineering received ￡1.475m from the Department of Energy and Climate Change to constuct the plant, but thecompany still needs to raise funds to meet the ￡40-million development expense.
Ryan Law, who is the managing director of Geothermal Engineering and who started up the company in 2008, said to Financial Times: “It is only through commitment and support from the government that the further private investment which is needed to fully exploit the UK’s geothermal potential will be raised.”
If all goes well, the plant is due to be operational by 2013. Way to go Cornwall!