This is why I am delighted to welcome this report commissioned by the North East Local Enterprise Partnership on behalf the UK Geothermal Task Force and delivered by the British Geological Survey. As a companion piece to the Mine Energy White paper published two years ago, which has led to significant interest in extracting heat from the water in our coalfields and helped accelerate a group of demonstrator projects, it highlights the opportunity to deliver a significant response to our future demand for heat through the deep geothermal resources which lie beneath our country in our rocks and sedimentary basins.

Geothermal energy has one of the lowest carbon footprints compared to other technologies and its availability across the UK means that by connecting it to district heating networks we can deliver a secure, local and flexible baseload technology which can provide for our domestic, commercial and public sector requirements for heat. It is complimentary to Mine Energy, and their development together can lead to acceleration on a range of other heat technologies, on financing and skills.

Geothermal energy offers a wide range of potential economic and wider benefits. Like Mine Energy, its exploitation has the potential to deliver new jobs and investment into regions of the UK which are central to our Levelling Up agenda. It is a technology which can supply the requirements of the public sector estate, which is one of the main emitters of heat related greenhouse gases through large buildings such as hospitals, prisons, and schools, as well as in other buildings in private ownership which have predictable and continuous heating requirements.