Our geothermal well will provide clean energy for the Eden Project

MND Drilling and Services (MND DS), with its high-performance Bentec 450 drilling rig, is involved in a geothermal well in Cornwall, UK, which will create a renewable, recirculating power source for the EDEN site. With this contract, the company makes a significant move into the promising geothermal energy segment.

• 4,500 m

  depth of well in first project phase

• 55 m

  height of drilling rig

• 5th project

  of MND DS in geothermal energy

The MND Group takes a responsible approach to the new challenges of the circular and green economy and, as one of the leaders in the energy sector, is open to new technologies. This was reflected in its latest contract, for a geothermal well in Cornwall, UK, which it won following a successful tender.

The area around EDEN is rich in granite. Due to granite’s large temperature variance, its temperature rises with increasing depth. In the first phase of the project, the Bentec 450 drilling rig will create a well of depth 4,500 metres in EDEN. Water is then forced into the well, after which it is heated and used to warm the biodomes in the EDEN park. Following the first phase of the project, if it is confirmed to be a real deposit of geothermal energy, plans are in place to drill a second well and build a geothermal power plant in the same area. This would help the site to achieve carbon neutrality over the next three years.

The EDEN project was constructed in an abandoned quarry in Cornwall in 2001. It is a large botanical garden with several greenhouses and thousands of different plants, where visitors will find, for example, a Mediterranean biotop or a South American rainforest. The gardens are sometimes called the eighth wonder of the world, and this June it was the venue for the traditional summit of leaders of the G7 nations, which was also attended by Queen Elizabeth II.