Eden Project geothermal plant plans to go ahead

Posted by Big Gav in cornwall, eden project, geothermal energy, geothermal power

The BBS reports the Eden Project plans to build a geothermal power plant to run their operation - Eden Project geothermal plant plans to go ahead.

Plans for a major geothermal power plant have been given permission to be built at the Eden Project in Cornwall.

Cornwall Council gave the go-ahead for the EGS Energy scheme which uses heat from rocks below the surface.

Water from the two boreholes, both about 2.5 miles deep, will be heated by the hot rocks and then used to drive electricity turbines.

Drilling is expected to start next year with electricity being produced from the second half of 2013.

The plant will be on the north side of the Eden Project, a showcase for environmental projects at Bodelva, near St Austell.

Heat produced by the plant will be used to provide warmth for the Eden Project biomes, giant greenhouses where exotic plans are grown.

It should produce up to 4 megawatts of electricity for use by Eden with a surplus, enough for about 5,000 houses, going in to the National Grid.

1 comments

Bob Wallace says 6:25 AM

Using the hot water after it leaves the turbines makes a lot of sense.

Space heating followed by greenhouse makes a lot of sense to me.

There is one greenhouse system which is using hot water from a natural spring, after it is used to heat a house, to heat the greenhouse soil. Heating pipes buried a few inches make much more sense than trying to heat all the air.

I wonder if there are industrial uses for hot water which could profitably located next to geothermal plants?