Sold! The UK’s first geothermal electricity to the grid
4th January 2021 | Commercial Energy
A Cornish based company, Geothermal Engineering Ltd (GEL) has signed a power purchase agreement with Ecotricity which market the first time that geothermal baseload electricity will be sold in the UK. Ecotricity has agreed to buy the electricity that will be produced 24/7 from the power plant at United Downs, near St Day. The agreement with Ecotricity will see a minimum of 3MW of baseload electricity produced by the UK’s first deep geothermal power plant distributed to Ecotricity’s customers via the National Grid. It is the first time that geothermal electricity will be produced and sold in the UK. 3 MW of electricity is enough energy to power 6,000 homes.
Geothermal electricity
Dr Ryan Law, founder and Managing Director of Geothermal Engineering commented, “We have been working for many years towards this point and are absolutely thrilled to see the different aspects of this pioneering geothermal power plant coming together. The testing we have completed recently on the wells, including the deepest well ever drilled on shore in the UK (over 3 miles deep), shows the significant potential of geothermal energy to supply heat and power, not only at our site but right the way across Cornwall. This comes on the back of the recent discovery of high lithium content in our geothermal water. We are very excited for the industry, investment and jobs this renewable resource could bring to the region.
Dale Vince, CEO of Ecotricity commented, “Geothermal is a really exciting form of energy that is, as yet, untapped in the UK. We’re pleased to be part of this project and to add the power to our customer’s energy mix. It has a big role to play in our plans to decarbonise the country.”
GEL also hopes to supply heat energy to a new local rum distillery which will use zero carbon heat from the plant. The Cornish Geothermal Distillery Company (CGDC) has submitted plans for the UK’s first geothermally heated biome which will be used to mature and then distil sustainable rum.
More information available on the website below
https://cornishstuff.com/2021/01/04/sold-the-uks-first-geothermal-electricity-to-the-grid/