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Eden-EGS seeking matching funding to Cornwall Council GBP1.4m grant

Eden-EGS seeking matching funding to Cornwall Council GBP1.4m grant Eden Project, Cornwall/ UK (source: flickr/ Matt Brown, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 23 May 2018

The Cornwall Council has announced a GBP 1.4 million grant to the Eden-EGS geothermal project near the Eden project, a biosphere facility.

The Council of Cornwall in England, UK has confirmed its commitment to exploring the future potential of deep geothermal energy announcing a GBP1.4M grant ($ 1.9m) to Eden-EGS Energy for a scheme at Eden Project, near St Austell, Cornwall

Now the Eden-EGS project will have to seek matching funding in order to drill a well to access “hot rock” geothermal energy to heat and power the Eden Project and surrounding homes.

As reported this is the second geothermal project backed by the Cornwall Council. The other project, the United Downs Deep Geothermal Project received a GBP 2.4 million grant, which helped it to gain additional funding of GBP 10.6 m from the European Regional Development Fund to drill two geothermal wells. The project plans a 1 MW pilot plant to prove technical and commercial viability of geothermal power generation. Drilling for the project will start later this year.

Cornwall Council leader Adam Paynter said: “Cornwall is the first in the UK to explore the potential to power our economy from deep geothermal energy, the hot rocks and springs lying deep under Cornwall.

“This council has secured money from national government which we are using to leverage a total of GBP35M funding from private businesses, Europe and research institutions for deep geothermal power.

“As a result companies in Cornwall are beginning drilling at United Downs and the latest decision will unlock a second site located within Eden.

“This has huge potential not just for Cornwall but for the national economy. Unlike other renewable sources where energy is dependent on the wind or the sun, deep geothermal offers a stable consistent and secure source of energy.

“All of this was made possible through our first devolution deal with government. We want to build on this through our latest proposal, New Frontiers. We are seeking co-investment from Government in our deep geothermal projects in order to assess the potential to extract valuable minerals such as lithium that will be in high demand across the globe to power the electric vehicles of the future.”

Source: GroundEngineering