GT Energy, the leading Irish specialist in the harnessing of deep geothermal energy, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with EON UK, one of the UK’s leading power and gas companies and a subsidiary of E.ON, the world’s largest investor-owned power and gas company. The agreement is a significant milestone in realising GT Energy’s ambition to become the primary provider of renewable heat in the UK by securing a development pipeline of 500MW.

Under the terms of the partnership, GT Energy and E.ON will collaborate to develop five new deep-geothermal heat and distribution systems in the UK, the first of which will commence in the North West of England later this year.

Padraig Hanly, managing director of GT Energy.

Padraig Hanly, managing director of GT Energy, says the agreement with E.ON marks a shift in focus away from Ireland and towards the UK, largely due to the lack of action on part of the Irish Government in progressing the appropriate geothermal legislation and putting in place the relevant supports for geothermal energy and renewable heat.

“Britain and Ireland both share the same ultimate goal: a safe future where our energy needs can be met in a clean, affordable and responsible manner. However, in stark contrast to Ireland, central government backing in the UK through a Renewable Heat Incentive programme is already making a huge difference to a fledgling industry, which we intend to be at the forefront of,” he comments.

Geothermal energy harnesses the heat that occurs naturally a few kilometres underground, providing a reliable source of clean energy for homes and businesses. Geothermal plants are uniquely suited to an urban setting, where energy demand is at its densest. Heating and hot water accounts for 47 per cent of the UK’s current energy consumption. Almost 80 per cent of the population live in urban areas, making geothermal energy ideally placed to cut greenhouse gas emissions, reduce dependency on imported oil, and cut the cost of heating homes.

He continues: “Recent scientific studies suggest that the UK is sitting on vast amounts of geothermal potential and our immediate goal is to secure a project pipeline of 500MW. In addition to the five projects we’ll be announcing in collaboration with E.ON, we will continue to advance other projects including our projects in Northern Ireland, which will benefit from the Northern Ireland RHI expected later this year.”

Established in 2007, GT Energy was the first company in Ireland to initiate private exploration into geothermal resources having drilled test wells to a depth of 1,400 metres in Newcastle, County Dublin. Since then, the company has worked on developing a number of geothermal energy projects in the UK, Northern Ireland and Ireland, including the Dublin area.

The EPA has welcomed publication of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Renewable Energy sources and Climate Change mitigation (SRREN). The report shows that global potential for renewable energy is substantially higher than both current and projected future global energy demand. This is the case globally and in most regions of the world.

Currently less than 3 per cent of the globally available renewable energy is being used. This means that more than 97 per cent is untapped. Realising this resource would be a major step in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from energy. The report projects that 80 percent of the world’s energy supply could be met by renewable sources by 2050 if enabling policies are put in place.

Commenting on the report Dr Mary Kelly, EPA director general, says: “This is a timely report given the choices we need to make on energy investment, here in Ireland, in Europe and internationally. It shows the potential of renewable energy technologies to provide energy solutions which also have wider economic, social and environmental benefits, including their potential to cut air pollution and improve public health, and increase energy security.”

The six renewable energy technologies reviewed are: bioenergy, direct solar energy, geothermal energy, hydropower, ocean and wind energy.

The report states that the cost of most renewable energy technologies has declined. Some renewable energy technologies are already economically competitive. Technical advancements are expected to further reduce costs. Increasing the share of renewables requires additional short-term and long-term integration efforts. There is a need for advanced technologies to optimize the infrastructure capacity for renewable an area in which Ireland has active research.

The IPCC report notes that enabling policies and measures are required to ensure rapid deployment of many renewable sources. Research is also required to overcome technical barriers. The deployment of renewable energy will benefit from testing centres for demonstration projects.

Two experts from Ireland were lead authors for this IPCC report – Professor Tony Lewis of the Hydraulics & Maritime Research Centre, University College Cork and Professor Mark O’Malley of University College Dublin.

Renewable Energy in Ireland

Ireland is committed to the deployment of renewable energy and aims to reach the European Commission target of 20 per cent of its total energy mix by 2020. Ireland is also implementing its National Renewable Energy Action Plan which all Member States were required to submit in 2010. This plan sets out how we intend to reach EU wide renewable energy targets.

Currently, the majority of Ireland’s renewable energy is generated using onshore wind with a small contribution from offshore. Bioenergy is a growing area through the establishment of bioenergy crops such as miscanthus and rapeseed oils as well as traditional forestry biomass. In the agricultural sector, technologies such as biomethane generation from grass and anaerobic digestion of farm and food wastes have the potential to play a key part in mitigating emissions from this sector. There are proposals in place for a state of the art research test bed in Belmullet for wave energy test site in Belmullet. Irish companies such as WaveBob and Ocean Hydro have already gained international attention for the potential of their technology.

GT Energy, the Irish company specialising in the harnessing of deep geothermal energy for the production of renewable heat and electricity, has lodged a planning application with South Dublin County Council for a geothermal power plant on a site at Greenogue Business Park in Newcastle, South County Dublin. Geothermal energy is a natural renewable heat generated at the earth’s core that radiates to the surface constantly.

GT Energy’s proposed Eur30 million development will be the first deep geothermal electricity generation plant in Ireland. The new power plant will be capable of generating up to 4 megawatts of electricity using geothermal energy, which will be fed into the national electricity grid. It will deliver base load electricity to the national grid, the equivalent of providing 8,000 homes with its entire electricity needs.

Subject to planning permission, it is expected that drilling of the wells will commence in 2011 and the plant is scheduled to be operational and connected to the national grid in late 2012.

GT Energy recently entered into a Technology Partnership Agreement with ESBI that will see GT Energy generate up to 50 megawatts of electricity using geothermal energy by 2020. ESBI will assist the company with the design of the generating equipment and grid connection design work.

CAPTION:

Pictured are (l to r): Padraig Hanly, managing director of GT Energy, and Gerry White, manager, market and technology developments, ESBI.