United Kingdom:

Manchester's Geothermal Plant Set for Approval (The Business Desk)

(Courtesy GT Energy)

An Irish company is expected to get the go-ahead next week to start work in Manchester on what could become the UK's first large-scale geothermal plant.

It wants to harness heat from hot water 3,200 meters below Ardwick and plans to start by drilling two exploratory boreholes that would subsequently be used as operational wells.

GT Energy believes its 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 has partnered with the German energy company E.ON to tap a geothermal reservoir beneath the city known as the Cheshire Basin.

The project will take up around an acre of land in the area during development. Once complete,  the plant will sit on just half an acre of land. It will take around a year to build and a pair of 40m-high drilling rigs will be in place for around six months.

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