GT Energy will now undertake detailed geological evaluations, to produce thermal models of the Devonshire Street site in the Ardwick area, enabling the firm to complete final designs from which to extract heat.

GT Energy is investing £450 000 (US$730 000) in this new phase of the project. The investment was made possible by the completion of the latest round of corporate fundraising, through which GT Energy raised more than £1.7 million ($2.75 million) from new and existing shareholders.

The funding round was led by the Low Carbon Innovation Fund (LCIF), a venture capital fund managed by Turquoise International on behalf of the Adapt Low Carbon Group at the University of East Anglia and supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

‘The successful completion of this funding round maintains the good progress of the Devonshire Street geothermal heat project,’ says Padraig Hanly, Managing Director of GT Energy.

‘We will be working with our contractor Erdwerk, which is highly experienced in deep geothermal development in Germany,’ continues Hanly. ‘From here, we expect to move from planning permission to a position where we will be ready to break ground on the site in spring 2015.’

GT Energy aims to start drilling in spring 2015, and generating energy in spring 2016 from the geothermal resources located approximately two miles (3 km) below Manchester in the Cheshire Basin. A network of pipes will take the heat from deep underground to city centre homes and businesses.

As well as residents and firms benefiting from cheaper energy, the overall project will create more than 100 new jobs. Once complete, the Devonshire Street site will be the largest commercial development of geothermal heating in the UK.