The Department for the Economy’s GeoEnergy NI interactive mobile discovery centre that is designed to help visitors ‘discover the heat beneath their feet’ arrived in Armagh on Tuesday 26th November for a school’s information day hosted by City of Armagh High School.

The school’s visit was joined by Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Cllr Sarah Duffy who met with a group of students and teachers from City of Armagh High School and St. Patrick’s Grammar School to learn more about the project and Northern Ireland’s wider geothermal energy potential. Together they sampled the interactive exhibits including bespoke Virtual Reality (VR) content which has been developed to help bring the subject matter to life.

In total six schools in the area got to find out more about the GeoEnergy NI project and Northern Ireland’s geothermal potential including Hardy Memorial Primary School, Armstrong Primary School, Saints & Scholars Integrated Primary School, The Royal School Armagh and St. Patrick’s Grammar School.

The GeoEnergy Discovery Centre is a key part of the overall GeoEnergy NI project – www.geoenergyNI.org – being delivered by the Department for the Economy with scientific support from the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland (GSNI). The project is exploring the potential for sustainable geothermal energy right beneath our feet through geothermal demonstrator projects in two locations in Northern Ireland – one based at CAFRE’s Greenmount campus near Antrim and the other in the Stormont Estate in Belfast. Both sites are believed to have favourable geological conditions which could deliver significant geothermal potential in the future.

The GeoEnergy NI Discovery Centre is designed to help schools, families, businesses, and community groups discover the power and potential of geothermal energy as a renewable and low carbon energy source, and is packed full of educational resources, including interactive experiences such as VR technologies.

Pupils and teachers from City of Armagh High School and St. Patrick’s Grammar School are pictured at the GeoEnergy Discovery Centre with Councillor Sarah Duffy.

Pictured inside the GeoEnergy Discovery Centre is Councillor Sarah Duffy, using the VR headset.

Pictured outside the GeoEnergy Discovery Centre are pupils engaging in geothermal experiments.