UK Government funds $33 million for geothermal heating project
Bottle Kilns at Hartley Court, Stoke-on-Trent (source: flickr/ David Jones, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
14 Mar 2014
The UK government has announced funding of $33 million for a geothermal district heating project in Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, UK. This is the largest support for the UK geothermal sector so far and possibly a game changer.
In news this week, the UK government announces funding of GBP 20 million ($33.3 million) for a geothermal district heating project for the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, UK.
The funding is part of a larger, GBP 113 million ($188 million) deal announced by UK’s Deputy Prime Minister for a city-wide district heating network.
This is the largest ever funding for geothermal in the UK and could essentially be a deal breaker for the industry in Britain. It is expected to provide up to 45 GWh of heat annually and help cut heating costs by around 10 percent. It will also create 180 construction jobs, 30 permanent jobs and 1,350 indirect jobs.
In a statement, Michael Feliks, UK operations manager at Cluff Geothermal and chairman of the UK Renewable Energy Association’s deep geothermal sector group, described the news as “fantastic”.
He said: “The government has engaged closely with industry to support geothermal in the Renewable Heat Incentive and this sector is set for growth. We hope this sets a path for other cities to follow and we continue to engage with government to break down the barriers to geothermal energy in the UK.”
Source: ReNew Biz
