| Abstract |
The use of earth’s heat for a wider application has been the conviction of the authors for a long time. As the cost of hydrocarbons continues to increase with additional constraint on the emission of CO2 in the environment, the vision of using heat and electricity from geothermal for industrial and recreation application is becoming a reality. EGS Energy has always campaigned to bring its original vision of a much wider application of geothermal energy in to reality. There is a proposal to fund two deep wells in Cornwall in 2013, one at the Eden Project near St Austell by EGS Energy Ltd and the other at United Downs near Redruth by Geothermal Engineering Ltd. The vision of EGS Energy is not only to successfully drill the wells and produce heat and electrical power at the Eden Project, but also to establish a road map whereby future EGS developers can see the potential industrial application of the use of heat. The plan is to develop a cascade of industrial heat users at the local, community level - horticulture, fish-farming, cropdrying, etc. initially. This will be followed by the regeneration of Cornwall by enhancing its recreation industry through building water-based parks such swimming facilities, marinas, spas, etc., so that Cornwall can have visitors throughout the year and not just in the summer only. This paper describes the current plan and stages involved in the development of the first commercial EGS power plant in the UK. |