The UK’s first geothermal power plant in Cornwall is set to deliver renewable baseload power to help meet local net zero targets.
Exergy International and Geothermal Engineering (GEL) have signed a contract for the supply of a 3 MWe gross capacity organic Rankine cycle (ORC) power plant at the United Downs site, in Cornwall.
Geothermal Engineering CEO Ryan Law said geothermal heart is an “untapped renewable resource with the potential to provide huge amounts of energy-efficient and carbon-free electricity and heat”.
This represents the first integrated deep geothermal power project in the UK which will deliver by late 2024 around 3 MWe of baseload renewable electricity and up to 10 MWth of zero carbon heat for a large housing development at Langarth Garden Village, a project being developed by Cornwall Council.
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The geothermal power plant will use the naturally heat producing granite which underlies most of Cornwall.
Two deep, directional wells have been drilled, where the naturally heated geothermal fluid will be pumped to the surface, passed through the power plant to produce electricity, then returned underground via the injection well where it will percolate through the granite to reheat.
This process means that geothermal energy produces clean, green power with no waste product.
The system will be delivered in 18 months, with commissioning of the plant expected by late 2024. Once in operation, this installation will save more than 6,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year compared to the production of conventional fossil fuel power.
“Our long-term agreement with Exergy will also enable us to develop a number of additional projects both in the UK and abroad,” added Law.
