UK's first geothermal project for 36 years opens at Eden - but blows a fuse during first switch-on

• Watch Charlotte Gay's report

The UK's first deep geothermal heating plant in 36 years is almost ready to go live.

The plant at the Eden Project in Cornwall has however had a slightly rocky start, blowing a fuse during its first switch-on.

The team behind the three-mile-deep construction say it is the start of a geothermal revolution as the government prepares its plan for harnessing energy from underground.

CEO of Eden Geothermal Ltd Gus Grand says "it will be a tremendous milestone for Eden" when it is fully operational.

"This will be the first operational Geothermal project in the UK in 37 years," he said.

It is the longest well of its kind in the UK and will be used to heat the Biomes at Eden along with a "state-of-the-art" nursery and a rum distillery.

Gus says the distillery will work alongside the demands for heat as "you don't need an awful lot of heat for greenhouses in the summer."

A test was held prior to the official launch which engineers says proved the technology worked, however a replacement fuse has needed to be couriered from Aberdeen.

When it's operational the heat will be moved around the site at around 85C.

Founder of the Eden Project Sir Tim Smit says geothermal provides a much more reliable source of power compared to other renewables

He said: "Our problem with powering ourselves of solar and wind alone was that in the event that you have a catastrophic failure or you have really cold weather, the rainforest, for example, is so sensitive to that that it would be terminal and that would be the whole experience gone."

The use of underground heat is expected to save Eden project around a third of its current energy costs and Sir Tim Smit believes this is the way forward to grow food anywhere in the UK.

"It's far better to use our great skills to grow more than we need. I don't think would be an exciting time like this since probably just before the First World War," he said.

MP for St Austell and Newquay Steve Double says Cornwall's potential for more deep geothermal drilling is "huge" as the government develops a white paper to assess how the Uk can expand its use of geothermal renewables.

"I have been talking to ministers for several years and the Government is looking seriously at how that can happen and what support it may need from Government to ensure it plays its part."

However, the engineers working on the Eden Geothermal project say it's currently too slow at supporting their work as plans to connect to the National Grid are set to happen at the earliest in 2036.

Gus Grand says 13 years is a "hugely long time to wait" and if the Government wants to be hitting its net zero goals "it's got to be faster".