Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to support any deep geothermal pilot projects to provide power and heating, whether by tax relief, indirect investment or otherwise.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Geothermal technologies that generate electricity are eligible for the Contracts for Difference scheme, which is the Government’s main mechanism for supporting low carbon electricity generation. The application window for the next Allocation Round opened on 30th March 2023 and concludes in Summer.
Funding support is available for heat network projects using deep geothermal from The Green Heat Network Fund which offers capital grants to support the commercialisation and construction of new low and zero carbon heat networks. It has recently awarded Cornwall Council £22 million for the Langarth Deep Geothermal Heat Network which is the UK’s first deep geothermal project.