Drilling for energy at Eden starts next week
Hot rocks geothermal project takes giant leap forward
WORK begins next week to drill a three-mile deep hole in the ground, kickstarting one of Britain’s most ambitious green energy projects.
The bore hole, on the edge of the Eden Project, near St Austell, will allow heated water to be pumped to the surface, warming Eden’s plant biomes, offices, kitchens and greenhouses.
And if all goes according to plan, a second borehole will be drilled allowing Eden to become carbon neutral by 2023.
The project could lead the way in helping to reduce carbon emissions across the UK. Eden Project co-founder Sir Tim Smit said it showed Britain had got back its innovative ‘mojo’.
He went on: “It is a privilege for Eden to be involved in a team embracing the future with the skills of the engineer and the power of the imagination, laying down a marker for a future that is ours to make.”
Eden Geothermal Limited chairman Richard Day said: “We are keen to be an active part of the clean energy revolution under the Government’s UK National Infrastructure Strategy.”
EGL secured £17 million in funding from a combination of the European Regional Development Fund, Cornwall Council and commercial funding from GCP Infrastructure Investments.
AGIANT rig is to start drilling a three mile deep hole under Cornwall in the latest stage of the pioneering Eden Geothermal Project
Next week, the first lorries carrying a the 450-tonne, 55 metre-high drilling rig will arrive on the outer edge of the Eden Project site, the home of the world-famous Rainforest and Mediterranean Biomes.
Once fully assembled into position on a newly-laid concrete platform, the rig will be ready to drill 4.5 kilometres – nearly three miles– down into the Earth’s granite crust.
The first phase of drilling is expected to take five months and when complete will then allow water to be injected down the borehole to be superheated by the hot rocks beneath.
The hot water will then be pumped back to the top up a pipe suspended in the same borehole, generating heat initially to warm Eden’s Rainforest and Mediterranean Biomes, offices, kitchens and greenhouses. The same water will then be re-circulated to be superheated and used again.
Following the successful completion of this first phase, the next phase is to drill a second well close to the first to a similar depth of around 4.5 kilometres.
This closed circulatory system of two wells will bring even more heated water to the surface for heating in the local area and also allow the generation of electricity from the hot water.
Successfully completing the second phase will mean that the project will generate enough renewable energy for Eden to become carbon negative during 2023.
Research has shown that when geothermal energy is developed, it will be capable of providing around 20 per cent of the UK’s current electricity demand plus a vast amount of heating. In Germany the industry has created more than 22,000 skilled jobs, and added €13.3 billion to the German economy since 2000. The use of geothermal energy reduced the country’s emissions by more than 1.7 Mt CO2 equivalent in 2017.
Eden Project co-founder Sir Tim Smit said: “Forget the official po-faced language about sustainability and our energy future… this is every romantic’s dream. Jules Verne would be smiling, as would Brunel, as will every Briton worried that we had lost our island mojo.
“It is a privilege for Eden to be involved in a team embracing the future with the skills of the engineer and the power of the imagination, laying down a marker for a future that is ours to make.”
This past year has been a period of intense activity in preparing the site close to Eden’s main visitor gate and arranging contracts with a host of service providers.
The diggers rolled in autumn last year and despite some of the wettest weather seen in Cornwall in recent years the drilling apron, guide pipe, service roads, and water storage lagoon are ready to take delivery of the drilling rig, said a spokesperson.
A special viewing area has been erected to enable visitors to come and observe the ongoing project safely from a nearby path.
The project is being delivered by Eden Geothermal Limited (EGL), a three-way partnership between Eden Project Limited, EGS Energy Limited, a leading geothermal development and consultancy group with experience in Cornwall and worldwide, and BESTEC (UK) Limited, which is affiliated with BESTEC GmbH, the specialist geothermal developer and drilling advisor.