Lack of legislation sees clean energy firm quit State

An Irish company that had signed up to a deal with ESB in 2010 to develop 50 megawatts of geothermal electricity in Ireland has abandoned its plans — and the country — because the Government has not yet legislated to support the clean energy technology.

Dublin-based GT Energy announced last month that it will build the UK’s biggest geothermal plant, which will heat 7m homes in Manchester, in a move praised by UK energy minister Greg Barker as “exactly the sort of innovative green project we want to see sprouting up across the country”.

Geothermal energy, which taps underground heat, can be used to provide heat or electricity.