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The Special EU Programmes Body has today announced an investment from the PEACEPLUS Programme of €20m (£17.3m) for Geothermal Energy research and development.

The funding has been awarded to a multi-partner project entitled GEMINI: Geothermal Energy Momentum on the Island of Ireland. The project is made up of fourteen organisations from both sides of the border, led by ourselves in Codema.

The aim of this unique investment is to promote energy efficiency and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions across Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland through increased awareness and uptake of geothermal technologies for heat production.

Heat production is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Decarbonisation of heat is central to the EU, UK and Irish strategies to meet the 2050 net zero Green House Gas emission targets. Research has shown that meeting this goal will require renovation and retrofit of energy efficiency measures and renewable heating in buildings, alongside increased use of energy from renewable sources.

The GEMINI project will, for the first time on the island, develop a joint approach to a renewable technology on a cross-border basis.

GEMINI will demonstrate and promote the uptake of efficient, renewable, low-carbon, secure and affordable geothermal energy at 5 locations, three in Northern Ireland, one in border region of Ireland, and one in Dublin.

The project aims to accelerate shallow geothermal energy uptake by removing barriers to the development of shallow geothermal. It intends to increase the uptake of Ground Source Heat Pumps, which would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase awareness of geothermal, improve energy efficiency and increase fuel security.

The project will support advances towards a sustainable future by reducing emissions and imports of fossil fuels through the development of Deep Geothermal Energy on the island of Ireland. Geothermal offers the island an opportunity to extract a natural resource currently not used on the island and reduce the dependence on fossil fuels, while reducing emissions.

Original Press Release: https://www.seupb.eu/latest/news/peaceplus-funding-green-energy