Hopes for power and purpose from an energy industry in flux

As war drives up fossil fuel prices and profits, new technologies show a way forward for the generators in 2023

A tall white rig punctures the Cornish skyline, offering a hint of a new industrial era at a site near Redruth, once a copper mining capital. This year, the first power produced by a geothermal plant in the UK is expected from a project three decades in the making.

The United Downs project aims to produce constant low-carbon electricity for the grid, and heat for homes, from hot rocks. Geothermal energy is an established power source in volcanically active areas of the globe near to tectonic plates. However, it can also be used in other areas if the rock temperature is high enough, and the rocks are permeable enough for water to circulate.