Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has taken recent steps to facilitate research on geothermal district heating.
The Department has contributed £31m in funding to UK Geoenergy Observatories, which will conduct geothermal energy-related research. This is in addition to supporting deep geothermal feasibility projects at the Eden Project in Cornwall and in Stoke-on-Trent.
The Department has also awarded £9.7m in capital funding to two district heating projects in Gateshead and County Durham via the Heat Networks Investment Project, which will use geothermal heat from mine-water to heat local communities.
The Government has commissioned a report, led by the British Geological Survey, into the potential contribution of deep geothermal energy in the UK. The report is expected to be published this year.