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.

IRELAND may soon be harnessing the power of the earth to fuel our energy needs after a planning application was lodged for the country’s first geothermal electricity plant.

An energy company's applied for planning permission to build the country's first geothermal electricity plant.