Interesting funding development at Cornwall's Eden Project. They have secured funding to drill for... heat. [similar to the centre of Southampton]
Cornwall’s
Eden Project and EGS Energy announced last week that they secured £16.8 million in funding to drill the first well for their pioneering geothermal heat and power project next summer.
Eden Project‘s cofounder Sir Tim Smit said:
"Since we began, Eden has had a dream that the world should be powered by renewable energy… We believe the answer lies beneath our feet in the heat underground that can be accessed by drilling technology that pumps water towards the centre of the earth and brings it back up superheated to provide us with heat and electricity."
Geothermal will be a game changer for Eden, Cornwall. The heat will be used for the Biomes, to grow food, as well as helping support the development of our long-awaited hotel.
Once up and running, our plant will provide more than enough renewable electricity and heat for the whole site, as well as for the local area. We will be drilling for good energy rather than bad. [he means fossil fuels when he refers to “bad.”]
Equally interesting is the source of the funding. Cornwall’s final round of EU funding, the European Regional Development Fund, has contributed £9.9 million. Cornwall Council has contributed £1.4 million. Institutional investors have given £5.5 million. The money will pay for the project’s first phase.
This is the kind of cooperation you can obtain when you are part of a bigger community.