The company is currently awaiting vital funding from its development partners, to finance a major drilling round at its flagship Barryroe oil and gas field, off the Cork coast, next year.
However, earlier this year Providence formed an affiliate business Providence Renewables DAC to look at geothermal energy projects and ways of transforming boiling water under the sea bed into renewable electricity.
Speaking after Providence's AGM in Dublin this week, chief executive Tony O'Reilly Jr said while the group is planning a strategic review of all its assets and divisions, development of the renewables arm remains some time off, and not just due to the overall company's current financial restrictions.
"Geothermal energy is really interesting. The problem is there's got to be some legislative frameworks put in place to be able to do things like that; likewise around carbon sequestration.
"I'd be interested in the long term, but we're many years away before having actual legislation to allow these things to happen. So, will it be short-term, probably not, but you never know," Mr O'Reilly said.
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From the Global Geothermal News archives:
- Tuesday, April 9, 2019 - Republic of Ireland: Downhole Data Confirms 260 Degrees F Offshore Geothermal Resource
- Thursday, February 14, 2019 - Republic of Ireland: Porcupine Basin "a Potentially Significant Geothermal Resource"
- Thursday, January 17, 2019 - Republic of Ireland: Postdoctoral Fellowship Available for Offshore Geothermal Energy Research
- Monday, December 17, 2018 - Republic of Ireland: Offshore Porcupine Basin Could be a Source of Geothermal Energy