In 2020, we invested £3 million in United Downs Geothermal Ltd – the UK’s first geothermal electricity generation plant based in Cornwall. In March 2023, we followed this up with a further £2.8 million investment alongside co-investors, with the funding being used to complete construction of the project by the end of 2024. Site operator – Geothermal Engineering Limited (GEL) – predicts United Downs will deliver 2MWe of baseload electricity once operational, plus additional zero carbon heat. The project consists of two wells, drilled at different depths into hot rocks found deep beneath the surface. The production well is 5.1km deep, the deepest well in the UK and almost four times the height of Ben Nevis. Tests at United Downs have shown that geothermal fluid within the wells has one of the highest concentrations of lithium in Europe at 340 parts per million (ppm). This sustainably produced UK lithium has the potential to fulfil a significant portion of the UK’s lithium needs, helping to support the growing EV industry as we transition to net zero.