UK Geothemal Projects

The London SPE Net Zero Gaia committee, in association with our SPE Europe geothermal colleagues, is excited to invite you to this coffee hour chat where we will discuss two ongoing UK geothermal projects: United Downs and BODYHEAT.

Our speakers for this coffee hour include Hazel Farndale, business manager for Geothermal Engineering Ltd who oversees GEL’s research and consulting activity on geothermal projects in the UK and globally, and specifically the deep geothermal United Downs project in Cornwall. She will be joined by David Townsend, founder and CEO of TownRock Energy, a geothermal consultancy out of Scottland focused on helping their clients unlock their geologic assets to eliminate waste and carbon emissions.

And, as a late addition to the programme, we will also be joined by Tony Bennett who is the Operations Director at Eden Geothermal.

Hazel will provide insight into multiple resource geothermal energy development in Cornwall and across the UK. She will discuss the current barriers to the development of the geothermal industry in the UK and the support needed from the government, local planning authorities, and local communities to make the industry viable. Finally, she will touch on the industry’s opportunity to create thousands of green jobs, especially those utilizing skills developed in the oil & gas industry.

David will then provide an overview of the work TownRock is doing towards developing geothermal resources in the UK. He will discuss the cost of waste heat and how thermal energy storage can be deployed at varying scales to both combat its negative effects and become a net zero energy source. He will finish by talking about BODYHEAT, an innovative project out of Glasgow in which the heat produced by club goers is stored in surrounding bedrock and later used to reduce the building’s overall carbon emissions.

Afterwards we will open the floor to questions from our audience. If you are curious about either of these projects, or have questions about the UK geothermal industry at large, this is the discussion for you. Please bring your questions, we look forward to seeing you there.

Please join us for this virtual event, which will held on Tuesday 11th July via Zoom from 12.30 to 13.30 UK (BST)

______________________________________________________________________________________

Speaker Biographies

Hazel Farndale, Business Development Manager at Geothermal Engineering Ltd

Hazel has an Integrated Master’s degree in Earth Sciences from the University of Oxford. Her passion for volcanology led her to the geothermal industry and she started her career as a research geologist for Hotspur Geothermal Ltd in 2016, working on projects across Kenya, Romania, Indonesia, the Philippines and Ethiopia. In 2020 she joined GEL, where she managed all aspects of subsurface reporting for the United Downs deep geothermal project in Cornwall. A year later, she took on the role of Business Development Manager, taking the lead on identifying and planning new geothermal sites across Cornwall, as well as managing GEL’s research and consultancy work for projects across the UK and internationally.

David Townsend, Founder & CEO TownRock Energy

Bringing a decade of geothermal energy leadership experience, working at the interface between the private, public and academic sectors, David brings extensive understanding of the technical, financial, political, and environmental aspects of the global geothermal energy sector. He has managed numerous geothermal and ground-source energy projects from pre-feasibility stage through to drilling and testing. He draws on his practical experience to help clients unlock the valuable geological assets beneath their sites, to eliminate waste and carbon emissions.

Tony Bennett, Operations Director at Eden Geothermal

Qualified in 1980 with a BSc Mining from Camborne School of Mines in Cornwall, UK. Worked during the 1980s on the Hot Dry Rocks Geothermal Energy Project, run by Camborne School of Mines, as a technical engineer. Became a Chartered Engineer in 1986. From 1992 worked for a Cornish based company performing desk-top risk assessments to properties for mining related subsidence and undertaking site investigations and remediation works. In 2010 joined EGS Energy as an Operations Manager and later became a director, working on the development of a deep geothermal heat and power system at the Eden Project, Cornwall. Also led on preparing proposals for feasibility studies for mine water heat extraction from disused flooded mine workings in Cornwall. During the latter part of this period, also worked as a part-time self-employed Assistant Project Manager for Geothermal Engineering Ltd on the United Downs deep geothermal energy site, in Cornwall. In 2019 became Operations Director with Eden Geothermal Ltd until the end of Phase 1 in June 2023.