The voice of geothermal
in Europe

Rome, 4-7-2019. A meeting has taken place at the Ministry of Economic Development between Undersecretary Davide Crippa and a delegation of 6 representatives of companies in the energy sector. The meeting was arranged by EUREC, the Association of European Renewable Energy Research Centres. Besides the Undersecretary and his chief of staff, Emanuele Piccinno, the participants were: Fausto Batini, Chief Technical Officer, Magma Energy Italia and Chairman of ETIP Deep Geothermal;Guglielmo Cioni, Vice-President Business Development, TVPSolar/Tresol;Marco Colatarci, General Manager Italia, Solvay;Pierre Herben, Chair of the “Industrial research and innovation advisory group”, SPIRE;Giovanni Tula, Head of Innovation and Sustainability, ENEL Green Power;Daniele Andreoli, Head of Flexibility Solutions, ENEL-X Discussions focused on European funding for research and development of clean and renewable energy technologies. Discussions are taking place in Brussels on the amount of money that should be budgeted for “Horizon Europe”. This is a research programme with a proposed budget of 100 billion euros expected to run from the start of 2021 to the end of 2027. One of the areas it will fund it concerns integrated action to combat climate change and meet the challenges facing our energy and transport systems. No decisions have been reached yet on the size of the budget for this or the other areas. According to Pierre Herben, “We must use all the tools at our disposal to transform the European economy for a low- and ultimately zero-carbon future. European citizens are increasingly concerned about climate change and ensuring that at least 35% of Horizon Europe budget is spent on research and demonstration with a clear, immediate climate benefit is a must.” “European countries must collaborate if they are to use public money for research in the most efficient way,” said Marco Colatarci. “Opportunities must be explored to coordinate research programmes between countries through mechanisms like the SET Plan (Strategic Energy Technology Plan) and European Partnerships. That would allow large-scale international projects to form.” Undersecretary Crippa, in the margins of the meeting, said, “Our discussions this afternoon have been very fruitful. Italy is a strong believer in intergovernmental cooperation in research, particularly for subjects that require action at global level, like climate change.'' “In line with commitments made by Italy under Mission Innovation to double annual spending in R&D” – continued Crippa – “our Decreto Crescita, recently approved, proposes investments of 40 million euros in research and development of clean energy. At European level, the SET Plan is the right tool to increase collaboration. Concerning budgets, Italy will push to increase the resources available in Horizon Europe for technological, economic and societal transformations required to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.” Contact > arrowsmith@eurec.be

The Hague, 13 June 2019 – The new board of the European Geothermal Energy Council was elected at the European Geothermal Congress yesterday. The new board is comprised of: President: Miklos Antics (GPC IP) Vice President: Marco Baresi (Turboden) Vice president: Javier Urchueguia (Universidad Politécnica de Valencia) Board Member: Sara Montomoli (ENEL Green Power) Board Member: Robert Gavriliuc (Romanian Geoexchange Society) Board Member: Rüdiger Grimm  (Geoenergie Konzept GMBH) Treasurer: Attila Kujbus (Geothermal Express) The new president highlighted the importance of supporting geothermal as Europe transitions towards a greater penetration of renewables for both electricity, and heating and cooling. 

The Hague, 11 June 2019 – The geothermal community meets in The Hague for the European Geothermal Congress 2019, to celebrate European excellency and to call for tailored tools to drive further geothermal deployment. More than 800 participants are joining the European Geothermal Congress this week. The event, organised by the European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC), in cooperation with Stichting Platform Geothermie, BodemenergieNL, and the main event sponsor Energie Beheer Nederland B.V. (EBN), brings together stakeholders from the entire geothermal community for sessions covering science, innovation and markets, an exhibition, courses, and side events.

The State Aid Guidelines on Energy and the Environment were initially release to adapt the rules on public support for the energy sector from a competition law perspective to reflect notably the framework of the 2020 EU Climate and Energy objectives. The purpose of this review is to put the State Aid framework in line with the 2030 Clean Energy for All European package, and reflect the changing market dynamics in the energy sector.

One of the key issues of the current debate on the next European Commission regards the priorities that should shape its action over the next five years, the matter of ambition for the energy transition is at the foreground.

In the process of the implementation of the Governance Regulation, which defines how the EU targets on climate and energy will be achieved by 2030, Member States have submitted draft National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), in which they outline the level of ambition they would pursue in the coming decade, and the policies measure that should enable it.