A model of the Eden Project mark two was revealed during a ministerial visit to the original Cornish Biomes.
Environment Minister Rebecca Pow made a special visit to the Eden Project near St Austell to see first-hand its Eden Geothermal energy project and then tour the world-famous Biomes with co-founder Sir Tim Smit.
Drilling of the first well by Eden Geothermal Ltd (EGL) began in the middle of May and has now reached a depth of 1,200 metres – about a quarter of the total depth.
At the geothermal site the Minister was hosted by Richard Day, chairman of Eden Geothermal Ltd (EGL), and Augusta Grand, EGL’s executive director.
She was then met by Sir Tim Smit and Eden Project interim chief executive David Harland on a journey around Eden, learning about the project – now in its 20th year – and the progress of other Edens around the UK and overseas.
The Minister was shown a model of Eden Project North in Morecambe, Lancashire, which Eden hopes to open in 2024.
Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said: “The Eden Project is a shining example of the action being taken to create alternative heating sources and to pioneer sustainable ways of reaching Net Zero.
“I was delighted to see the geothermal project and hear about its potential as a renewable energy source and then to plant a tree in the world-famous Eden gardens as part of our Plant for Our Planet initiative. This is encouraging everyone to do their bit to increase nature and adapt to climate change.
“We must all take action, however small, to tackle climate change and restore nature. The Eden Project is focusing on these issues and I look forward to seeing how their work continues.”
Environment Minister Rebecca Pow and Eden Project Co-Founder Sir Tim Smit plant a tree at Eden
Sir Tim Smit said: “I’m delighted the Minister came to see our thrilling geothermal plant and explored how Eden is developing its Emergence Academy thinking so that we look at the natural world as a whole where clean air, water, soil and energy are seen as the birthright of the future and natural integrated systems we all depend on and need to nurture.
“For me, the Minister’s commitment to these values, and insistence that we must effectively halt systems damage and create a national benchmark of environmental standards against which we are all judged for the first time, giving us a policing mechanism against which policies can be developed, strategies implemented and fiscal policies encouraging good behaviours put in place, is the start of a new era.”
Eden Geothermal Limited (EGL) is a three-way partnership between Eden Project Limited, geothermal development consultancy group EGS Energy Limited, and BESTEC (UK) Limited, which affiliated with BESTEC GmbH, the specialist geothermal developer and drilling advisor.
Drilling of the first well is expected to take five months in total. When complete it will then allow water to be injected down the borehole to be superheated by the hot rocks beneath.
The hot water will then be pumped back to the top up a pipe suspended in the same borehole, generating heat initially to warm Eden’s Rainforest and Mediterranean Biomes, offices, kitchens and greenhouses. The same water will be re-circulated to be superheated and used again.
At the geothermal drilling rig, from left, Eden Geothermal Ltd’s executive director Augusta Grand, drilling rig supervisor Peter Mulholland, environment minister Rebecca Pow, the minister's private secretary Lily Ginsberg-Keig and chairman of Eden Geothermal Ltd Richard Day
Following the successful completion of this first phase the next phase is to drill a second well close to the first, to a similar depth of around 4.5 kilometres.
Eden says that once complete, the two well geothermal project has the potential to supply renewable heat to the Eden Project and neighbouring industries equivalent to the heat used by more than 35,000 homes, or renewable electricity to that consumed by around 14,000 homes.
To drill the first well, EGL secured £17 million funding from a combination of European Regional Development Fund, Cornwall Council and commercial funding from GCP Infrastructure Investments Limited, an investment trust advised by Gravis Capital Management Ltd.
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