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Plans to build the UK's first commercial-scale geothermal power plant have taken a major step forward after the company behind the £50m project secured a £6m government grant.
Cornwall-based Geothermal Engineering announced on Monday that it has been awarded the grant from the government's £1.4bn Regional Growth Fund.
Once fully operational, the plant is expected to have a 10MW capacity and will also provide up to 50MW of renewable heat energy for the local community – the equivalent of heating 20 schools for a year.
The company aims to begin drilling the first well onsite in late 2012.
Ryan Law, managing director of Geothermal Engineering, said the award marked a major step forward for the industry.
"We are pleased the government has recognised the potential of the deep geothermal industry in the South West of the UK," he said. "The grant will be used to leverage significant levels of private funding into the United Downs deep geothermal project."
He also said the grant would help to counter the government's recent refusal to increase support for geothermal as part of its review of the Renewables Obligation Certificate (ROC) scheme.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change launched a consultation last month, proposing to maintain the current level of saleable ROCs issued to geothermal power plants at 2 ROCs/MWh, then cutting the level to 1.9 ROCs in 2015/16, and 1.8 ROCs in 2016/17.
The industry had been calling for greater support, arguing that subsidies will have to increase if the UK is to have any chance of establishing itself as a significant player in the global geothermal energy market.
"The geothermal industry was disappointed at the outcome of the Renewable Obligation Certificate Review published at the end of October," added Law. "However, this grant will help the industry move forward."
Geothermal Engineering already has planning permission to build the plant, which is located at the United Downs, near Redruth in Cornwall. A research centre into geothermal energy is also planned in conjunction with the University of Exeter Sustainability Institute.
In addition, the company hopes that once the first plant is operational it will be able to build further projects across Devon and Cornwall, which could produce up to 300MW of electricity in total.
Plans to build the UK's first commercial-scale geothermal power plant have taken a major step forward after the company behind the £50m project secured a £6m government grant.
Cornwall-based Geothermal Engineering announced on Monday that it has been awarded the grant from the government's £1.4bn Regional Growth Fund.
Once fully operational, the plant is expected to have a 10MW capacity and will also provide up to 50MW of renewable heat energy for the local community – the equivalent of heating 20 schools for a year.
The company aims to begin drilling the first well onsite in late 2012.
Ryan Law, managing director of Geothermal Engineering, said the award marked a major step forward for the industry.
"We are pleased the government has recognised the potential of the deep geothermal industry in the South West of the UK," he said. "The grant will be used to leverage significant levels of private funding into the United Downs deep geothermal project."
He also said the grant would help to counter the government's recent refusal to increase support for geothermal as part of its review of the Renewables Obligation Certificate (ROC) scheme.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change launched a consultation last month, proposing to maintain the current level of saleable ROCs issued to geothermal power plants at 2 ROCs/MWh, then cutting the level to 1.9 ROCs in 2015/16, and 1.8 ROCs in 2016/17.
The industry had been calling for greater support, arguing that subsidies will have to increase if the UK is to have any chance of establishing itself as a significant player in the global geothermal energy market.
"The geothermal industry was disappointed at the outcome of the Renewable Obligation Certificate Review published at the end of October," added Law. "However, this grant will help the industry move forward."
Geothermal Engineering already has planning permission to build the plant, which is located at the United Downs, near Redruth in Cornwall. A research centre into geothermal energy is also planned in conjunction with the University of Exeter Sustainability Institute.
In addition, the company hopes that once the first plant is operational it will be able to build further projects across Devon and Cornwall, which could produce up to 300MW of electricity in total.
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