A geothermal drilling site and power station have been granted planning permission despite people living nearby saying that it is the wrong location.

Cornwall Council’s strategic planning committee approved the development for a site at Penhallow, near Truro, this morning.

Geothermal Engineering Limited (GEL), which has already carried out testing and is set to generate power at a site in United Downs, had applied for permission to drill two geothermal wells and build a power station at the new site at Penhallow.

However the plans had come up against strong objections from local residents and the parish council along with the local Cornwall councillor for the area. They all said that whilst they supported the need for renewable energy they did not consider that the location was suitable for the development.

Objectors said that they were concerned about noise from the operation of the drilling and power plant, the risk of seismic disturbance from the drilling, the risk of contamination of their water supply and the increase of traffic in a rural area.

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Under the proposals the facility would develop over three years, starting with test drilling at the site and then the construction of a power station which could then operate for the next 50 years.

David Chamberlain, whose house is the closest to the site, told the strategic planning committee that he was concerned that the development would have a negative impact on his and his wife’s mental health.

He said that he was concerned about “continuous noise for 50 years” and said “it will be unpleasant and detrimental to our mental health”.

The developers had agreed to install an acoustic fence to mitigate the noise from the facility but Mr Chamberlain highlighted that the fence would be four metres high and just 15 metres from his home and would look out of place. He added: “We are just expected to simply accept the background noise for the next 50 years.”

Mr Chamberlain said that homes in the area rely on private boreholes for their water supply and said that there was a risk that this could be affected by the drilling for the geothermal site.

He also said that he was concerned that there would be no benefits for the local community and claimed that GEL would only be generating power “for their own private benefit”. Mr Chamberlain added: “We do not object to technology when proven to work but simply believe this is the wrong location.”

Darren Youngs, another local resident, said that he was also concerned about noise and also about the potential risk of seismic activity from the plant and said he was “extremely worried about the shifting of our properties due to seismic activity”.

Peter Gaisford from Perranzabuloe Parish Council said that the council was unanimous in its objection to the application. He said that whilst the concept of geothermal power had been proven there had not yet been any energy generated from GEL’s United Downs site and then fed back to the National Grid.

He said that promises had been made about the amount of power and heat which could be generated for homes but said that these had not yet been realised at United Downs and there were concerns about whether they would be delivered at Penhallow.

Cllr Gaisford said that the parish council felt that there were more appropriate sites which could be used for the development away from residential areas and in more industrial locations.

Dr Ryan Law, director of GEL, told the committee that there was a need to develop more geothermal power plants “to mitigate the climate emergency and reduce energy costs” and said that it was “an opportunity unique to Cornwall”.

He said that the development of a test site at United Downs had helped to put Cornwall on the map in being at the forefront of geothermal energy in the UK. The new site at Penhallow, he said, had been the result of two years of site locating work and £50million of investment.

Dr Law said that not only would the site help to generate more renewable energy but would also create new high skilled, high paid jobs for the local area and help boost the local economy.

In response to questions Dr Law said that whilst United Downs had not generated energy back into the National Grid this had been due to delays caused by the covid pandemic and said that it had run tests which showed that it can generate power and that a power station to harness that energy and feed it into the grid was expected to be built this year.

He added that the company was “100 per cent confident” that the Penhallow site would also be successful in generating power and heat.

Planning officer Tim Warne said that seismic activity at geothermal plants was very low and well within accepted limits. He explained that seismic events at United Downs and the geothermal plant at the Eden Project had been recorded but would not have caused any impact on properties or the environment. He explained that blasting which was allowed at quarries in Cornwall for mineral extraction was far more powerful and would also not result in any impact.

Cornwall councillor John Fitter said that he supported the application and said that whilst concerns had been raised he was happy that these had been addressed by the applicant and planning officers.

He said: “Coming to the technology itself it has been suggested that it has not been proven but I believe it is proven to produce a constant supply of energy, this is not subject to the sun shining or subject to the wind blowing or coming from the gas supply. This is going to be constant and it is going to be there and is going to be a vital ingredient to our national supply.”

Andrew Long said that while the application was a “really difficult one” he could see no valid planning reasons to refuse permission.

The committee voted unanimously in favour approving the application.

Speaking afterwards Dr Law from GEL said: “The recent energy price shock has shown how much we need to develop home grown, renewable energy sources, particularly those that provide energy when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow.  The geothermal resource has been overlooked in the UK, as a source of both baseload electricity and renewable heat.  As a country we urgently need to be accelerating investment in all renewables to fully support our transition to net zero. The United Downs project has proved that geothermal energy can produce baseload electricity in the UK and the GEL team are looking forward to expanding Cornwall’s geothermal energy production to help secure stable energy costs, green jobs and to strengthen the Cornish economy.”