Cameron promises to dig deep for geothermal power incentives

David Cameron yesterday vowed that a Conservative government would increase financial incentives for geothermal energy projects in the UK, promising to accelerate the rollout of feed-in tariffs for ground source heat pumps and introduce new support for larger-scale deep geothermal plants.

Speaking at an event in Cornwall, a region that scientists believe could be suitable for geothermal power plants, Cameron accused the government of failing to provide sufficient support to a sector that some experts estimate could help meet 10 per cent of the UK's energy needs.

He promised that a Conservative government would "provide generous incentives to give this new industry the shot in the arm it needs to get going", adding that the emergence of a UK geothermal energy sector could help cut carbon emissions and create jobs while also enhancing energy security.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said that geothermal energy projects can already access two Renewable Obligation Certificates – tradeable energy certificates that boost the value of renewable energy – for each megawatt of energy they produce.

However, Cameron promised new banding for the Renewables Obligation that would provide a boost for large-scale deep geothermal energy projects.

He also promised that smaller-scale geothermal projects of less than 5MW would be able to sell all the electricity they generate at a profitable price through the planned feed-in tariff.

The government is planning to introduce a feed-in tariff next year, which is likely to provide above-market prices for electricity generated using small-scale geothermal technologies.

But the Conservatives accused Labour of "dragging its feet" with the introduction of wider incentives, arguing that its planned renewable heat consultation is not scheduled to be launched for 12 months, and as a result the renewable heat tariff, which could provide a major boost to geothermal technologies, will not be introduced until April 2011 at the earliest.