The instruction follows SLR Consulting’s recent success in helping GT Energy to secure planning permission for the heat plant element of the scheme – a project which involves the drilling of two 3,200 metre deep boreholes and the construction of an underground heat plant which is capable of providing heat to around 6,000 homes and businesses. 

Alan Mitchell, principal planner with SLR, called the proposed geothermal project "an innovative green energy development that has the scope to be replicated across the UK in similar urban environments and areas with similar geology.”

SLR’s brief includes the completion of a number of environmental studies and the submission of a planning application for a district heating network. This will connect the proposed heat plant site in the Ardwick area of Manchester to the Oxford Road corridor and the city centre.