UK’s first geothermal power station seeks investors

The peer-to-peer funding platform Abundance is to launch an investment bond for the first commercial geothermal power station in the UK.

The bond is looking to raise up to £5m to assist with the construction of the United Downs scheme near Redruth in Cornwall.

The project has recently been awarded a £10.6m grant from the European Regional Development Fund and £2.4m of public funding from Cornwall Council.

When complete, the plant will have a target capacity of 3MW of constant power, enough to supply 5,500 typical homes each year, from two deep wells with an average diameter of approximately 20cm, and with a generation plant the size of an average house.

‘This is a ground breaking project, which is backed by EU grants and the local authority, and offers a chance for ordinary people to take a stake in something with the potential to deliver significant carbon reductions in the future,’ said Abundance co-founder and managing director, Bruce Davis.

A winner for planet and investors

Ryan Law, managing director of the British company behind the project, Geothermal Engineering, said the granite rocks of Cornwall have ‘the highest heat flow in the UK and are the best place for the development of geothermal power’.

‘The United Downs project is at the cutting edge of geothermal technology and we want to give the local community the chance to be involved in this project. This is why we are launching an offer of debentures through Abundance to allow people to invest directly, from a minimum of just £5,’ added Mr Law.

Abundance has also been involved with other renewable energy projects and recently raised around £7.5m to support tidal power through Atlantis Ocean Energy.

‘Our customers have demonstrated a strong appetite for investing in the next wave of renewable technologies which offer a win for the planet and a win for their financial aspirations too, so we are very pleased to offer this chance to help build the UK’s first geothermal power station in Cornwall,’ said Mr Davis.

‘While onshore wind and solar will always be important as established renewable energy generators, the sector is moving beyond that now to the next generation of technologies like geothermal and tidal, with Abundance investors backing them through their ISAs.’