IGas, through its wholly owned subsidiary GT Energy UK Limited ("GTE"), has signed a MoU with SSE for the development of a geothermal district heating project in the City of Stoke-on-Trent ("the Project").
SSE will develop and deliver a district heating network in Stoke-on-Trent working with GTE and Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
The MoU grants exclusivity to each of SSE and GTE with regard to the Project for a period of 12 months with certain milestones including executing a heat offtake agreement in relation to GTE's future geothermal plant.
Giles Newton, Head of Business Development for SSE Energy Solutions, said:
"We are delighted to announce our partnership with GT Energy which will help us to fully explore the feasibility of providing heat offtake from their future geothermal project in the Stoke area. We have proven expertise in the sector, with our 19 existing UK heat network sites, and we believe that geothermally sourced energy will play a vital role in decarbonising heat, as well as having the potential to tackle 'hard to decarbonise' process heat. We look forward to developing the Stoke City project with GT Energy over the next 12 months".
Stephen Bowler, IGas CEO, added:
"We are delighted to be working with SSE as we seek to deliver this flagship renewable project for the city of Stoke-on-Trent. SSE is leading the way in developing the low-carbon assets and infrastructure required for the UK to reach its target of net zero emissions by 2050.
We are also working closely with other energy providers on a number of district heat networks in other cities.
Both the BGS report and the ARUP report, published in May this year, support the need for deep geothermal in the Government's energy policy for the next 30 years, but with real and tangible benefits in the immediate future. Deep geothermal has the potential to become a world leading industry here in the UK, provide a stable transition away from oil and gas, and help meet the Government's net zero ambitions by decarbonising heat on a mass scale. It would also create 1,000s of new jobs and generate tens of millions of pounds in new investment."
