U.K. leads the world in offshore wind energy development but there is one other renewable energy sector that could play major role in providing Britain with clean electricity – geothermal energy.
According to a recent Sinclair Knight Merz study U.K. has enough deep geothermal resources to provide 9.5GW of baseload electricity and over 100GW of geothermal heat.
This study estimates that if U.K were to spend £11m a year to raise subsidies for geothermal energy projects this would be enough to support development of strong geothermal energy sector that would be capable to supply 20% of the UK's electricity needs.
U.K. has excellent infrastructure to start rapid geothermal energy development because of the strength of British engineering skills. The country's geothermal hotspots are said to be in Cornwall, the North East and the Lake District.
So far, the British government wasn't ready to ensure adequate subsidies for geothermal energy that would stimulate further investment into the industry but things may soon change because U.K. could be finally ready to give geothermal energy a real chance.
The country has yesterday signed a geothermal deal with Iceland that could see geothermal power from Iceland supply clean electricity to the UK.
Geothermal energy could not only improve Britain's energy security but also deliver low carbon electricity and create new jobs.
