The voice of geothermal
in Europe

Brussels, May 2019 - The Clean Energy Package sets a renewable energy target of at least 32% by 2030. For investors, this target is the minimum to keep momentum going in the fast-growing sector that is the renewable energy industry. Meeting this target is necessary for Europe to reap the economic benefits resulting from a clean and efficient energy system by 2050. This will strengthen European competitiveness at the global level boosting domestic jobs and growth. For the EU to be world leader in renewables and leading force on climate action, European and national policies must help increasing renewable energy shares in the final energy demand: in electricity, heating & cooling and transport. This is of utmost importance to decarbonize the EU economy. A higher share of renewable energy in all final energy uses will create more jobs, push technological innovation, boost infrastructure development at the local, regional and national levels. The recently adopted Clean Energy Package contains concrete provisions to ensure the 2030 decarbonisation objectives are collectively met. Now the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) submitted by the EU Members States are the key instrument to turn the provisions of the Package into reality. These Plans need to outline the renewable energy deployments over the next decade, being consistent with the EU-wide 32% target and the long-term decarbonization objectives set forth by the Paris Agreement. The renewable energy industry considers that the draft NECPs submitted so far to the European Commission are lacking substantial details: • Ambition. The NECPs’ level of ambition must be significantly increased to reach the 2030 targets and maintain the competitiveness of the EU renewable energy industry• Robustness, clarity, visibility. The plans need to clearly translate the provisions of the Clean Energy Package into actionable and forward-looking national policies. Member States should clearly define how they plan to comply with the requirements of provisions such as the sectorial objective on renewable heating and cooling, enabling energy communities, or aligning their electricity market.• The draft NECPs’ should be aligned with other relevant European policies, such as the innovation policy and the SET Plan targets. The renewable energy industry is a key enabler of growth in Europe. Our industry now urges the European Union to call for more robustness and ambition in the NECPs, in order to enable the EU to remain on track to meet its renewable energy target to 2030. All signatories of this letter remain at full disposal to provide more information where needed and hope this call for action will be taken into account. Click here to download the letter in PDF

EGEC  is currently looking for a Head of Policy & Regulation, to join its team in Brussels, to start before September 2019.

Reykjavik, May 3, 2019 The GEOTHERMICA Consortium announced today the launch of an additional joint call on June 3 with a deadline for pre-proposals on September 13, 2019. The Second Call will build on the success of the previous one and incorporate valuable lessons learnt during the last four years. Moreover, the GEOTHERMICA Consortium will be broadening for the Second Call, with Norway and USA joining, giving GEOTHERMICA now the weight to influence and accelerate the development of geothermal energy globally. GEOTHERMICA’s second call objective is to accelerate the development of geothermal energy globally, by combining the financial resources and know-how of its respective partners, as well as expanding the utilisation of clean and renewable low carbon geothermal energy beyond its traditional markets and regions. In addition, GEOTHERMICA seeks to explore optimization of geothermal direct use and power generation, including innovative integrated and combined systems. In the previous call, GEOTHERMICA financed, with the support of the European Commission, eight large Inter-European projects, allocating close to €30 million to innovation and technology development projects. The available budget for the Second Call will be confirmed with the publication of the call text but indicative commitments are close to €20 million in total. GEOTHERMICA Second Call Timeline: • 2 MAY 2019 Pre-announcement of Second Call • 3 JUNE 2019 Call text published • 13 SEPTEMBER 2019 Deadline for project pre-proposals submission • 11 NOVEMBER 2019 Notification to projects that passed • 31 JANUARY 2020 Call for full proposal closes • 1 JUNE 2020 Tentative date for funding recommendation and announcement of results to Main Applicants • 1 SEPTEMBER 2020 Tentative date for national funding decisions and contracts completed. Start of projects Link to the website *Rules and conditions apply. Project proposals must meet both national/regional requirements as well as GEOTHERMICA rules. Please consult your respective national authority for guidelines.

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.

The EIB’s energy lending criteria are the set of rules, revised regularly, which the Bank sets for its activities to be compliant with the European Union’s policy objectives.

EGEC co-signed a letter in the framework of the discussions on the objective of the European Union for the long-term energy transition.