http://www.energyefficiencynews.com/articles/i/5456/?cid=3

UK government "wants to do more" for deep geothermal energy but has had to make "hard choices" over which renewable energies to support.

Speaking at the Deep Geothermal Symposium in London yesterday, Energy Minister Greg Barker told the audience:
"Does this Government still care about deep geothermal as a clean energy technology? Yes, we do. Would we like to do more? Yes, but - and it is big 'but' - given the catastrophic deficit we inherited we have to achieve more with less."

Barker admitted that the sector has been disappointed to be granted only two renewable obligation certificates (ROCs) in the recent regarding of the government's support mechanism for renewable technologies.

"We faced some very difficult decisions in the RO review process," he said, "and simply couldn't do everything we had hoped to across all technologies."

But in the future, geothermal heat could prove vital to realising the government's aim of decarbonising space and water heating.

The government is already helping cities like Manchester and Newcastle develop district heating plans, which could be served by geothermal heat.

And in fact, developer GT Energy is planning a geothermal heating project in Manchester to tap into one of the country's largest geothermal resources, the Cheshire Basin, which lies deep below the city.

If it goes ahead, the geothermal project will benefit from the government's Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme, which pays generators a tariff based on production.

But will the sector see more support from the government? Barker did not announce anything specific, but told the conference:
"This Government [has a] continuing interest and practical action across the deep geothermal sector... But although we weren't able to set a higher band in the RO, we left open the door to exploring other ways to support projects."

What the sector needs, say experts, is a £10-15 million capital funding grant to get one project off the ground, which could serve as a demonstration project to prove the viability of the technology.