Geothermal: Current UK Use
There is only one geothermal power plant in operation in the UK, in Southampton. Ground-source heat pumps were first popular in the early 1980s, when electricity was cheaper than gas. They are now becoming more popular, with an increasing number of heat pumps installed throughout the UK in homes, commercial buildings and swimming pools. This is because of their energy-efficient status and due to the fact that gas prices are once more beginning to rise relative to electricity prices.
There are currently around 250 ground-source heat pumps installed in the UK every year. Since 1992 around 3,000 heat pumps have been installed in single family homes.
Future development
It has been estimated that there are 1,550 large industrial sites in the UK where heat-pump systems could be installed, with an average size of 800 kilowatts of thermal power. There is more limited potential for further geothermal plants in the UK as sites need hot rock relatively near to the surface and which is sufficiently fractured to allow the passage of (heated) water. There are areas of hot rocks in the North Pennines, parts of southern England and Derbyshire.