Geothermal is a renewable resource that is harnessed from deep below the Earth's crust.
The plant will power the Eden Project nature reserve in south-west England.
Geothermal has huge potential to be exploited, said Tim Smit, co-founder of the Eden Project.
Britain is only 29th among European countries in terms of installed geothermal energy facilities, while in the Netherlands, Germany and France – countries with similar underlying geology – the technology is well developed and creating thousands of new jobs, he said.
The new geothermal plant harnesses energy captured by drilling into granite - a natural rock deep underground - and distributes it through a 3.8km long main heat pipe.
In addition, the UK’s deepest geothermal well – at a depth of more than 5km – will be used to access hot water that can heat both the Eden Project and the innovative nursery Growing Point. Mr Smit believes that having a nursery on site could save on costs and running time, as crops can be harvested when needed.
According to AFP , more and more European countries are interested in geothermal energy projects in the context of disrupted energy supplies from Russia.
Germany is considering using geothermal energy to replace gas, which is mainly imported from Russia, with several geothermal plant projects underway to tap heat from hot springs deep underground.
The heating plant in the Sendling neighborhood of southern Munich has been running on gas for more than a century, often imported. But hot water from deep underground is increasingly replacing gas to power the city.
In 2016, Germany built a new geothermal plant in Munich and was due to operate it in 2021, before the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine led to Russia shutting down gas pipelines to Europe.
Munich, famous for its thermal baths and considered to be in the perfect geological position to develop geothermal energy projects, plans to invest 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) by 2035 to develop geothermal energy and bring the city's carbon emissions from heating back to zero.
In late 2022, the German government announced plans to increase geothermal energy production tenfold by 2030, to 10 terawatt hours (Twh). To achieve this ambitious goal, Germany, which uses 50% of its gas for heating, wants to deploy at least 100 new geothermal projects.
Interest in geothermal projects has increased significantly across Europe, also as countries seek to decarbonize their energy systems. Reliable and sustainable geothermal energy appears to be the perfect alternative to gas. According to the European Commission, geothermal energy could provide carbon-free heating for up to 25% of the population in the European Union (EU).
Minh Hoa (t/h according to Vietnam+, People's Army)
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