TLT advises Government on Eden Project geothermal deal

A total of £16.8 million has been secured from a mixture of public and private sources, with the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) contributing £9.9m and Cornwall Council putting in £1.4m. The ERDF funding was administered by the MHCLG.

The TLT team was led by banking and finance partner Gary Roscoe and associate Samuel Hill, who advised the MHCLG and GLD on the structuring of bespoke financial guarantee arrangements in support of the extension of the grant funding for this innovative project.

Gary Roscoe, partner at TLT says: ‚ÄúWe‚Äôre really pleased to have helped secure the funding for this unique geothermal project.  This is the second major UK geothermal heat and power project TLT have acted on in relation to financing and funding, and showcases the huge potential of geothermal in the UK.

“TLT is proud to play a role in promoting the development of clean energy projects and these deals highlight the breadth and depth of expertise TLT has in the sector.”

David Krohn, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Growth Programme Manager at MHCLG says: “This proposal necessitated an extreme level of commercial expertise and delicate stakeholder management to bring to contract, and TLT skilfully managed the challenging situation in a way that met the needs of both the department and the applicant.

“TLT moved rapidly to appraise the existing situation and develop a solution that met our needs, while providing certainty of funding to the applicant.”

The funding will pay for the first phase of the project – drilling a well which will initially supply a heating system for Eden’s biomes, offices and greenhouses. If successful, a second phase would see drilling of a further well and creation of an electricity plant, which could generate sufficient renewable energy for Eden Project to become carbon positive by 2023.