Ambitious plans have been drawn for a £10million rum distillery inside a biome heated by geothermal energy.
Matthew Clifford, founder of the (CGDC), has submitted outline plans for an ultra high-tech facility which would incorporate his patent-pending carbon-neutral rum “cask maturation pods”.
The “100% sustainable” distillery, which would create up to 30 jobs, would heat generated by the 海角视频’s first geothermal power project.
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The project would initially see ethically produced, Bonsucro accredited rum distilled around the world brought to the site, laid down in oak casks made and repaired by CGDC coopers and stored in the maturation biome to enhance the product’s quality and flavour.
The biome, approximately 14 metres tall at its highest point, would incorporate four maturation pods, each holding 800 2000-litre casks, amounting to 640,000 litres of rum in total, which would be tropically matured over a period of five to 10 years.
The CGDC team hopes the rum cask maturation facility would be up and running by the late summer of 2022, and that a demonstrable success of this “Catalyst Phase” could draw further interest and investment into the creation of a full £30million Cornish geothermal rum distillery with potential to create up to 100 jobs.
The facility has been designed by Grimshaw Architects, alongside engineering consultancy Buro Happold.
Mr Clifford, a former offshore helicopter pilot-turned-entrepreneur, is working closely with Geothermal Engineering Limited (GEL), based at United Downs within Cornwall’s historic mining heartland, project managers and surveyors Ward Williams Associates, and other partners.
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Outline plans for the Catalyst Phase have been submitted to Cornwall Council, following CGDC’s investment of more than £150,000 investigating parcels of land in the United Downs area including, with cooperation of race track operators Purple Cornwall, land at the United Downs Raceway.
All sites are a pipeline and cable route from where GEL’s project team has drilled more than 5km into ancient granite to tap the deep geothermal heat from which significant quantities of clean, renewable electricity and heat will be produced in 2022.
“We’ve been working on our deep geothermal distillery project for the last two years and it is hugely exciting to finally share our plans for this initial ‘Catalyst’ stage,” said Mr Clifford.
“We aim to combine our absolute passion for rum with much-needed investment and quality full-time jobs in this part of Cornwall, utilising local skills and businesses.
“We will be sharing our vision with the communities close to United Downs, so that they have the opportunity to give us their thoughts and impart local knowledge, which will be invaluable to this project.”
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He added: “We are working with a brilliant team of consultants including Roach Planning and Ward Williams Associates surveyors, all the while in close contact with GEL.
“Work on our vision for a Geothermal Rum Cask Maturation Facility has continued, remotely, right through lockdown and it is hugely exciting to be sharing that vision and entering the latest phase of the project, in consultation with all the parties concerned.”
Jobs created in the Catalyst Phase would include highly-skilled master coopers and master blenders, as well as offering apprenticeships to young people. CGDC’s aim is to work with the Cornwall Mining World Heritage Site team to preserve and enhance the historic area.
Ryan Law, managing director of GEL, said: “Although electricity production has been our main objective at the United Downs Deep Geothermal Power project, we’ve always been committed to finding an ethical business to make use of the sustainable geothermal heat which is a by-product of the electricity generation process.
“It’s therefore great news to see the rum cask maturation stage of CGDC’s vision coming nearer to reality. I hope that this first stage will be a great success and that in the future we will see the 海角视频’s first geothermal rum distillery at the United Downs.”