The government has put forward an investment of €1 million to support innovative research projects on geothermal energy.

Three projects have secured funding under the 2019 SEAI National Energy Research, Development and Demonstration Funding Programme, with strategic co-funding support from GSI.

Discussing more about the research, Dr Phil Hemmingway, Head of Research & Technology, SEAI, said: "The All of Government Climate Action Plan commits Ireland to significant targets and ambitions in the energy sector. Disruptive innovation will be a critical enabler for meeting these targets and for achieving Ireland's decarbonisation goals. Ireland's energy system will undergo a rapid, continual and significant evolution during the period to 2030 and beyond. Projects such as these are at the forefront of knowledge development. I would like to congratulate the teams behind the successful applications to the SEAI research funding programme, and look forward to seeing the outcomes of the projects, which will contribute to our cleaner energy future."

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Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies was awarded funding for the DIG project (De-risking Ireland's Geothermal energy potential). It aims to reduce risk in harnessing Ireland's geothermal energy potential using a multi-scale and multi-disciplinary approach. It will improve the estimation of deep geothermal resources in Ireland, building on existing datasets and geothermal modelling knowledge.

Gavin and Doherty Geosolutions Ltd secured financial support for a project titled ThermoWell. It will apply novel drilling and exploration techniques for deep geothermal resources and aims to demonstrate the economically advantageous use of Deep Standing Column Wells as a renewable heat resource.

The final project to secure funding is Terra GeoServ Ltd's ShallowTHERM. This project will test a methodology to estimate the underground heat-exchange potential for shallow geothermal installations, in particular, vertical closed loop collectors.

Mr Koen Verbruggen, Director of GSI added: "We look forward to working with the researchers and implementing the scientific and technological outputs but also using these results to inform policy in this area."

(CM/JG)