Geothermal Energy

Jo Gideon Excerpts

Wednesday 15th September 2021 Westminster Hall

[Jo Gideon (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Con)]

It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson. I congratulate the hon. Member for Midlothian (Owen Thompson) on securing this timely debate on the UK’s opportunity for geothermal energy extraction.

This topic is really important to me as the Member of Parliament for Stoke-on-Trent Central. We are a pioneer city, at the forefront of exploring the geothermal option. I am delighted that this debate places a spotlight on geothermal, which is more environmentally friendly than conventional fuel sources, provides a more reliable clean energy source than other renewable options and offers an operational lifespan of more than 100 years. In addition, geothermal supports the transferability of skills and jobs from the oil and gas sector and provides development opportunities in regions such as the midlands, bringing new jobs and investment to areas that do not currently benefit from renewables such as wind power.

Crucially, the technology supports our transition to net zero. As we look to reduce our carbon footprint through a circular economy based on the principles of reducing, reusing and recycling, it is fitting that Stoke-on-Trent is at the forefront of this movement. The Potteries, home of pots and pits, retains a huge underground maze of former mine tunnels. The coal from those mines fired the kilns and the steelworks, and blackened the skies across the city at the height of its heavy industrial past. We are now powering our city up again, but this time as part of a new green industrial revolution, reducing pollution by investing in improved public transport, growing our nature recovery network, reusing the infrastructure of a former polluting industry to deliver new, clean energy, and recycling the hot water within the mine tunnels through our district heat networks.

Several factors make Stoke-on-Trent an ideal location for the development of this technology. First, the area has ideal geological conditions. Its geothermal gradient, which shows how much the temperature increases as we dig deeper, is greater than expected due to an ancient volcano deep beneath the surface providing untapped potential. We are leading the way with the Stoke-on-Trent district heat network. I thank the Government for providing £20 million for this pilot project. The district heat network features 18 km of piping and has led to affordable and clean energy for a community in the city and the first dedicated skills academy.

The project led by GT Energy to develop a deep geothermal heat plant in Etruria Valley in the city already has planning permission. The development would be the first of its type in the UK and would comprise the initial drilling of two deep exploration boreholes to a depth of approximately 4,000 metres. I believe it will be the first in the world to feed into a district heat network. The proposed development has the potential to bring a host of benefits to the local area, including creating green economy skills and jobs, reducing carbon emissions by 11,000 tonnes per year and generating heat equal to the energy needs of around 4,000 homes.

The exciting project is shovel ready and could be weeks away from starting with the proper Government support. I am grateful to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy for enabling Stoke-on-Trent City Council to create a procurement framework to engage with local suppliers of district heat networks. This provides the council with a crucial link to local companies that can complete the required work and enables best practice to be shared more widely as the market grows.

Fundamental to the development of the geothermal market is, as we have heard repeatedly, early Government support. Government support for this early stage technology will unlock private investment, support the industry’s development and reduce cost to consumers over time. Early Government support has been shown to work in other countries in developing geothermal markets by providing confidence to geothermal developers and their investors. With increasing project delivery, market confidence grows and projects become more cost effective and sustainable, requiring less Government intervention as the market matures.

We have heard that this has been the case in other countries such as France, which now has a more mature geothermal market that is cost effective without the need for ongoing Government support. I welcome the Government’s support for the sector through initiatives such as the heat investment network project. Can the Minister confirm that geothermal energy, as a low-carbon technology, will be within the scope of the new £270 million green heat network fund running from 2022 to 2025?

As we approach COP26 and call on our global partners to step up their commitments towards achieving net zero, it is right that we should consider how we can harness the UK’s potential. Does the Minister agree that shovel-ready projects, such as the geothermal project in Stoke-on-Trent, are vital in developing this key energy source ahead of other countries, further demonstrating our commitment to carbon reduction?

[Mr Laurence Robertson (in the Chair)]

We come now to the Front-Bench speeches.