The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) of the UK has announced that £22 million in funding will be awarded to the planned geothermal heating project at Langarth Garden Village near Truro in Cornwall. This project, by Geothermal Engineering Ltd. (GEL), will be the first deep geothermal district heating network in the UK and is expected to be connected by 2026 or 2027.

The funding awarded to GEL is part of a broader funding program, the Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF), for seven state-of-the-art heat network projects across England, with a total amount of £91 million. This is the drive yet to fund cleaner ways to heat and power buildings.

With this funding, the Cornwall Council and GEL can develop detailed plans for the new district heating network to secure heat from the already completed 5-km deep geothermal well at United Downs. Geothermal heat will be supplied to 3,800 homes at Langarth Garden Village with potential to supply additional heat to the western side of Truro.

The United Downs Deep Geothermal Power (UDDGP) project, developed and operated by Geothermal Engineering Ltd, is the first geothermal power plant in the UK. It is funded by a mixture of public and private funds to include the European Regional Development Fund, Cornwall Council Kerogen Capital, and Thrive Renewables plc. The project will produce power and heat from the hot granite rocks beneath Cornwall. Two deep, directional wells have successfully been drilled; the production well to a depth of 5275m (deepest in the UK) and the injection well to 2393m.

The proposed heat network will save an estimated 5,000 tonnes per year of CO2 equivalent for Langarth Garden Village alone, compared to the alternative of an air source heat pump for each home. Future residents are also likely to benefit from cheaper heat.

“We use almost 50% of all energy in the UK for heating, yet most of this is currently gas. The potential of geothermal resources to produce renewable heat from our natural resources will play a large part of decarbonising this form of energy over the next decade. The great thing about a deep geothermal plant is that the heat will always benefit the immediate area surrounding it as it cannot be exported to a ‘grid’. Langarth will be an excellent example of a local community directly benefiting from having a geothermal initiative nearby,” said Ryan Law, CEO of GEL.