Geothermal energy breaks ground: New €20m (£17.3m) cross-border investment in demonstrator projects for public sector buildings

Over the next four years the GEMINI project will help reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions associated with heat production, a goal central to EU, UK and Irish strategies to meet 2050 emissions targets. The project is led by Codema, Dublin’s Energy Agency, and is supported by the PEACEPLUS programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) and endorsed by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, Ireland and the Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland.

Geothermal energy is a secure, local, near-zero emissions energy source which is suited to both urban and rural areas, including individual users or networks with large heat demands. The geothermal technologies deployed in this project will use heat energy from the Earth to power large-scale heating and cooling systems in public sector buildings such as swimming pools, housing projects, utilities offices and a university campus.

Welcoming the launch of the GEMINI project, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Mr. Eamon Ryan, T.D., said:

“I am pleased to announce my Department’s commitment to supporting the GEMINI geothermal energy project. This project will help bring us closer to our 2030 and 2050 emission targets by supporting the Geothermal Energy and District Heating policies led by my Department to decarbonize the heating and cooling sector, which is a critical element of the Irish Government’s Climate Action Plan.

 

"Importantly the GEMINI project will do more than just deliver infrastructure in the short term. It will also build essential capacity in our planning, education, research and energy design systems, along with best practice for community engagement. This will deliver long term solutions and sustainable impact beyond the four-year project.

 

"Along with my colleagues in Northern Ireland, I look forward to seeing the outputs of this ambitious and timely collaborative project.”

Economy Minister Conor Murphy said: “Decarbonisation is a cornerstone of my economic plan. As an alternative to fossil fuels, geothermal energy has a pivotal role to play in decarbonising heat. The Gemini project will demonstrate and promote the benefits of geothermal across the island.

“Important partnership work has made this project possible, and I commend the partners involved for their ongoing collaboration with the public sector in the north. The public sector is our largest energy consumer, and I welcome Gemini’s commitment to reduce its carbon emissions by unlocking our island’s deep geothermal potential and supporting our move away from imported fossil fuels”.

SEUPB Chief Executive Gina McIntyre said: “Promoting renewable, sustainable, and greener energy is a really important way to create a better future for everyone right across this island.

“Geothermal is one of the most exciting opportunities that exists for utilising our natural resources safely and responsibly to enhance energy production. This is an industry in which organisations in Northern Ireland and Ireland can make a significant impact and we are proud to support this important sector through PEACEPLUS.”

The GEMINI project will support the development of the geothermal sector and accelerate the uptake of geothermal energy through four real-world pilot installations, 3 shallow (<500m) in Sligo and Belfast, and one deep (approx. 2km) in Grangegorman, Dublin. Additional data will also be collected for potential future sites, thereby ensuring that the GEMINI work will have wider impacts for the island by increasing and improving our knowledge of the sub-surface and our island’s potential geothermal resources. This information will also help to inform new policies, guidelines and supports for the sector through geological heat potential maps, cross-border policy recommendations, toolkits for decision makers (homeowners, planners, developers and local government), community engagement guidelines, and business and skills development activities.

The project will be delivered by GEMINI’s 15 partners from local and national government, the research sector and community engagement groups both North and South of the border.