Cornwall Council's cabinet meets later to consider a report which says the cash is needed to unlock more money from the European Union.
The report says a geothermal project generating 15 MW could power 25,000 homes and create up to 260 jobs.
"The deep geothermal resource in Cornwall, if successfully exploited, has the potential to provide Cornwall with significant economic, environmental and social benefits," says the report.
"Knowledge of the resource dates back some 40 years to the Camborne School of Mines 'Hot Dry Rocks' project at Rosemanowes Quarry, between Falmouth and Helston.
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