GT Energy has started work on the next phase of its geothermal scheme, which will provide a secure supply of cheaper, renewable heat to homes and businesses in Manchester.

Detailed geological evaluations will be undertaken by GT Energy to produce thermal models of the Devonshire Street site in the Ardwick area, enabling the firm to complete final designs from which to extract heat.

GT Energy is investing £450,000 in this new phase of the project. The investment was made possible by the completion of the latest round of corporate fundraising through which GT Energy raised more than £1.7m from new and existing shareholders.

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The funding round was led by the Low Carbon Innovation Fund (LCIF), a venture capital fund managed by Turquoise on behalf of the Adapt Low Carbon Group at the University of East Anglia and supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

GT Energy aims to start drilling in spring 2015 and generating energy in spring 2016 from the geothermal resources located approximately two miles below Manchester in the Cheshire Basin. A network of pipes will take the heat from deep underground to city centre homes and businesses. Not only will residents and firms benefit from cheaper energy, but the overall project will create more than 100 new jobs in the city. Once complete, the Devonshire Street site will be the largest commercial development of geothermal heating in the UK.

(CD/MH)