(From left): Conor Lydon, NI director of Tetra Tech Europe, Marie Cowan, director at the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland, and Mike Brennan, Permanent Secretary at the Department for the Economy, at the launch of GeoEnergy NI. Credit: Department for the Economy.

A $3.8m (£3m) project to explore Northern Ireland’s geothermal heating potential, led by Northern Ireland’s Department for the Economy, has begun at two separate sites. Short boreholes, roughly two metres in depth, will be drilled and analysed by the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise, which will assess where deeper boreholes of 2.5km can be drilled. 

The project is part of Northern Ireland’s Energy Strategy Action Plan, which seeks to reduce energy-related emissions by 56% relative to 1990 levels by 2030.  

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The project, known as GeoEnergy NI, will access underground water at temperatures of 70–80°C, which will then be used to heat buildings on the Greenmount campus of the College of Agriculture. 

“This project will increase our understanding of the potential role that geothermal energy can play in Northern Ireland’s green economy and future energy mix,” said Mike Brennan, Permanent Secretary of the Department for the Economy, in a statement. 

“GeoEnergy NI has the potential to be a catalyst for growth in the geothermal sector. As a reliable, low carbon, renewable energy resource that occurs naturally within the Earth, geothermal also brings with it a host of environmental, economic and social benefits,” he added.  

Geothermal heating in Europe 

Geothermal heating is used throughout Europe as a means of providing low-carbon, renewable heating for homes. 

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In May, the UK awarded £22m for the first deep geothermal district heating network in the country, which is expected to supply heat for nearly 4,000 homes and businesses. The UK Government is increasingly interested in geothermal potential. 

“Geothermal energy is already used widely and successfully in many countries around the world including the Netherlands, Germany and France, and there are several significant geothermal projects currently being delivered elsewhere in the UK,” said Marie Cowan, director of Geological Survey of Northern Ireland, which is providing scientific support for the project. 

Cowan described Northern Ireland as “very fortunate to have favourable geology with significant untapped potential for geothermal energy”. 

The project will also entail a public and stakeholder outreach campaign and a mobile visitor centre, which Cowan hopes will “further enhance the public’s awareness and understanding of geothermal and the economic potential Northern Ireland’s geothermal sector holds”.