Irish firm plans geothermal plant in Ardwick

A DUBLIN-based company is planning to build the UK’s first large-scale geothermal plant in Manchester by digging holes some 3,000 metres into the ground in Ardwick.

GT Energy said that its proposed multi-million pound project could be the focus of a low-carbon economic zone in the area, as well as help to drive down energy costs for local people.

It is planning to tap a natural energy reservoir beneath the city known as the Cheshire Basin by drilling a pair of holes some 3,000 metres into the ground on its site in Ardwick.

The project will take up around an acre of land in the area during development, which will include the construction of a geothermal plant. Once complete, it will sit on half an acre of land.

GT Energy will begin consultation on its plans today ahead of submitting an application for the plant by September. The firm will be on site in the Coverdale Church Hall today.

If permission is granted for the scheme, it will take around a year to build. A pair of 40m-high drilling rigs will be in place for around six months.

GT Energy said the plants are commonplace in Europe, with 34 sites in Paris alone. There is only one existing plant in the UK, however, which is in Southampton and is much smaller in scale. It was built in 1981.

Padraig Hanly, CEO of GT Energy, said: “Hidden beneath the streets of Manchester is a massive natural energy resource that we propose to tap into to create a leading facility that will put the supply and control of heating directly into the local community.

“Heating accounts for up to 47% of the UK’s consumption of fossil fuels and alternative energy sources must be found.

“This will be one of the UK’s largest commercial offerings of geothermal heating and will put Manchester at the heart of a new wave of geothermal projects.”

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