{"id":428663,"date":"2026-02-28T12:31:01","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T11:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=428663"},"modified":"2026-02-28T12:31:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T11:31:03","slug":"three-times-the-cost-causes-earthquakes-roll-on-the-green-power-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=428663","title":{"rendered":"Three Times the Cost, Causes Earthquakes\u2013Roll on the Green Power\u00a0Revolution!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Paul Homewood<\/p>\n\n\n\n

h\/t Ian Magness<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More naive reporting from Matt Oliver:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The promise of underground riches is <\/em>nothing new in Cornwall<\/em><\/a>. But on Thursday, the region will plumb new depths in the quest to harness Britain\u2019s natural resources.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first time, the United Downs deep geothermal power plant will start generating 24\/7 electricity at a site near Redruth.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With an output of around three megawatts, enough to power roughly 10,000 homes, the plant cannot exactly be described as game-changing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet experts believe it will help pave the way for similar projects across Britain aimed at tapping into the vast thermal resources below our feet.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United Downs project, developed by Geothermal Engineering Ltd (GEL), will draw water at temperatures of around 190C from underground reservoirs that sit approximately five kilometres beneath the surface.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It takes advantage of a natural fault line using two wells, one that draws water up and one that pumps it back into the granite rock formations. Water that is brought above ground is run through a heat exchanger which uses another liquid with a lower boiling point to make steam and drive a turbine.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result is power that <\/em>is nearly always on<\/em><\/a> \u2013 whatever the weather \u2013 save for short maintenance periods, says Ryan Law, the chief executive of GEL.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce you have done your drilling and the rest of it, the plant then runs 24\/7 for about 96pc of the year,\u201d he says.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In renewable energy, these kinds of numbers are virtually unheard of. Utility-scale solar tends to only push 25pc of the year while wind farms tend to land somewhere between 20pc and 40pc.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not sure who these \u201cexperts\u201d are. They would not be paid by GEL, by some chance?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article also contains serious errors, not least the claim that solar power works at 25% efficiency. The true number is half that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bot the biggest error is this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Matt Oliver obviously does not realise that \u00a3119\/MWh is at 2012 prices! The current strike price is \u00a3170.50\/MWh, three times the price of gas power:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Economically attractive, he says! What a joke. It is only viable because of the \u00a33 million a year CfD subsidy plus that \u00a31.8 million bung. And all for a miniscule contribution to UK electricity supply. The 3 MW quoted might generate 25,000 MWh a year, compared to total UK demand of 300,000,000 MWh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it gets much worse! The process has been causing earth tremors, as Oliver reports:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like fracking, however, this kind of drilling can cause unnerving mini-earthquakes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Britain, ministers effectively outlawed fracking for oil and gas when they limited operations that create tremors of more than a 0.5 magnitude.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are no such rules for geothermal, even though it has caused mini-tremors that were three times more powerful than this, with the industry instead regulated based on its surface vibrations. Law argues that this is more sensible because it measures the actual effects above ground.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it\u2019s OK to have earthquakes three times as powerful as from fracking, because geothermal is \u201cgood\u201d and fracking \u201cbad\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FOOTNOTE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have left comments for Matt Oliver, pointing out his CfD strike price error, but so far, the article still has not been corrected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Economically attractive, he says! What a joke. It is only viable because of the \u00a33 million a year CfD subsidy plus that \u00a31.8 million bung. And all for a miniscule contribution to UK electricity supply. The 3 MW quoted might generate 25,000 MWh a year, compared to total UK demand of 300,000,000 MWh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":428672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691819627,691834578,691840639,691831484,691825668,691841675,691819365],"class_list":["post-428663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-clean-energy","tag-contract-for-difference-cfd","tag-cornwall","tag-energy-secretary-ed-miliband","tag-geothermal-energy","tag-geothermal-engineering-ltd-gel","tag-uk-electricity","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0Geothermal-Power-Plant.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1NvV","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":419392,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=419392","url_meta":{"origin":428663,"position":0},"title":"Miliband Claims High Energy Bills Due To Fossil\u00a0Fuels","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/01\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Mad Miliband argues that exposure to global gas prices is the UK's \"Achilles' heel,\" causing bill spikes (e.g., after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine) and long-term instability. He positions the transition to clean power (renewables and nuclear) by 2030 as the solution for lower, more stable bills, energy security, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Ed Miliband\"","block_context":{"text":"Ed Miliband","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=ed-miliband"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQPnCY3hqwtgC6PuNChJWL5hJHIS2orS8JAuoROvmTV8O3W_cw93E70wBTwUimnX5UYIr_SdVPKEr_frKTp4VwVsqLAbyaAWnnJb3VHXID_5W8tecDdungDr6-zJvLTOmx_k06ZyAn4vyy0pJLf3LDpjmK5_.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQPnCY3hqwtgC6PuNChJWL5hJHIS2orS8JAuoROvmTV8O3W_cw93E70wBTwUimnX5UYIr_SdVPKEr_frKTp4VwVsqLAbyaAWnnJb3VHXID_5W8tecDdungDr6-zJvLTOmx_k06ZyAn4vyy0pJLf3LDpjmK5_.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQPnCY3hqwtgC6PuNChJWL5hJHIS2orS8JAuoROvmTV8O3W_cw93E70wBTwUimnX5UYIr_SdVPKEr_frKTp4VwVsqLAbyaAWnnJb3VHXID_5W8tecDdungDr6-zJvLTOmx_k06ZyAn4vyy0pJLf3LDpjmK5_.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQPnCY3hqwtgC6PuNChJWL5hJHIS2orS8JAuoROvmTV8O3W_cw93E70wBTwUimnX5UYIr_SdVPKEr_frKTp4VwVsqLAbyaAWnnJb3VHXID_5W8tecDdungDr6-zJvLTOmx_k06ZyAn4vyy0pJLf3LDpjmK5_.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQPnCY3hqwtgC6PuNChJWL5hJHIS2orS8JAuoROvmTV8O3W_cw93E70wBTwUimnX5UYIr_SdVPKEr_frKTp4VwVsqLAbyaAWnnJb3VHXID_5W8tecDdungDr6-zJvLTOmx_k06ZyAn4vyy0pJLf3LDpjmK5_.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":249696,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=249696","url_meta":{"origin":428663,"position":1},"title":"Will Offshore Wind Lower Energy Bills?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/26\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"So we can kiss lower energy prices goodbye!","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-1110.png?fit=1200%2C754&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-1110.png?fit=1200%2C754&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-1110.png?fit=1200%2C754&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-1110.png?fit=1200%2C754&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-1110.png?fit=1200%2C754&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":440607,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=440607","url_meta":{"origin":428663,"position":2},"title":"The Dying Embers of Net Zero Propaganda","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/20\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Physics hasn\u2019t changed: wind and solar are cheap when the wind blows and sun shines, but the system still needs firm capacity. Technology costs have fallen dramatically, and emissions have been displaced \u2014 but the transition\u2019s total system cost is still being socialised through bills and subsidies. Whether the embers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Contracts for Difference (CfDs)\"","block_context":{"text":"Contracts for Difference (CfDs)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=contracts-for-difference-cfds-2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-The-Dying-Embers-of-Net-Zero-Propaganda.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-The-Dying-Embers-of-Net-Zero-Propaganda.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-The-Dying-Embers-of-Net-Zero-Propaganda.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-The-Dying-Embers-of-Net-Zero-Propaganda.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":288260,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=288260","url_meta":{"origin":428663,"position":3},"title":"Offshore Wind Costs","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"11\/20\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The UK government has increased the strike price caps for the upcoming Contracts for Different round and committed to an offshore wind-only pot. The Administrative Strike Price for fixed-foundation bidders in Allocation Round 6 will be \u00a373 per megawatt-hour, up 66% on the \u00a344\/MWh in AR5 that failed to attract\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"\u00a311 billion a year\"","block_context":{"text":"\u00a311 billion a year","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=11-billion-a-year"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-483.png?fit=1200%2C1063&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-483.png?fit=1200%2C1063&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-483.png?fit=1200%2C1063&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-483.png?fit=1200%2C1063&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-483.png?fit=1200%2C1063&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":241512,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=241512","url_meta":{"origin":428663,"position":4},"title":"Gas-Fired Power Is Now Cheaper Than Offshore Wind Again","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/25\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Offshore wind farms subsidised by ROCs costs even more, They receive about \u00a3100\/MWh in subsidy on top of the market price of the electricity they sell, meaning they currently earn well over \u00a3200\/MWh. 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