Following on from the European Union’s commitments to phase out energy imports from Russia, make energy affordable, boost industrial competitiveness, improve energy security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) insists that the European Commission must present an investment-orientated strategy and action plan to accelerate the deployment of all geothermal energy solutions. EGEC calls on the European Commission to publish a dedicated European Geothermal Strategy and Action Plan in the first quarter of 2026. This echoes requests made by EU Energy Ministers (see the TTE Council Conclusions of 16 December 2024) and also by the European Parliament (Resolution on geothermal energy, adopted on 18 January 2024). Indeed, the European Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jørgensen, has already confirmed (on 14 March 2025) that the Commission will present "an action plan on geothermal energy" before the end of March 2026. According to EGEC, the Commission’s proposal must include the following elements: An EU-wide target to reach 250 GW of geothermal capacity by 2040 covering all technologies. This will build on the 44 GW of installed capacity in the EU. A European Geothermal Charter, which codifies the 2040 target and launches the Geothermal Industrial Alliance to manage its delivery. Targeted European financial instruments to leverage private capital. Measures to make permitting processes more efficient and faster, as well as improving access to geological data. Sectoral or tripartite agreements with key energy consumers. Peer-to-peer guidance to help governments develop national and regional roadmaps to remove barriers, accelerate investments and build local supply chains. European instruments to support value chain development in local manufacturing and skilled professionals. The inclusion of geothermal energy as a central pillar of the EU’s Global Gateway and the Global Energy Transition Forum. Improvements to the collection and presentation of market data and statistics to enable better energy modelling. EGEC’s proposals are set out in a new policy document:The European Geothermal Strategy and Action Plan - Making Europe competitive, secure and affordable Watch EGEC's webinar on the launch of its recommendations for the EU Geothermal Strategy and Action Plan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxUUaWHfuM8
The Geothermal District Heating and Cooling Days 2023, a three-day event hosted in Aarhus, Denmark, culminated on a high note after a series of insightful discussions, presentations, and site visits. With more than 100 attendees, the event proved to be a gathering of industry experts, researchers, and stakeholders passionate about advancing the use of geothermal energy in heating and cooling networks.
Geothermal energy provides permanent, non-weather dependent supplies of baseload renewable electricity, heating, free cooling, seasonal thermal and electricity storage as well as the most sustainable means of extracting lithium and other raw materials. Yet it is only 2% of final electricity and heating production.
Unleashing Europe’s Geothermal Potential: The geothermal industry enjoyed growing market development but new installations must still triple by the end of the decade.
EGEC’s Annual Report 2022 looks back at the work of the organization and the performance of the European Geothermal sector over the past year, while it looks forward to the challenges ahead.
EGEC welcomes the European Commission’s proposals for a Critical Raw Materials Act and the Net Zero Industry Act. It is vital to strengthen existing European industrial value-chains for geothermal energy to meet the rapid demand driven by consumers and EU policy.
Proceedings of the European Geothermal Congress 2022 are available here. The ISBN code is 978-2-9601946-2-3.
3 March 2023 – EGEC would like to announce that the winner of the Ruggero Bertani European Geothermal Innovation Award 2023 is Huisman Geo, with its innovative project Composite Downhole Tubulars.
On 1st February, the European Commission presented The Green Deal Industrial Plan; Measures include simplifying permitting, adapting EU state aid rules, leveraging EU funds, reinforcing supply chain and enhancing skills.
The ITRE committee of the European Parliament adopted today the recast on Energy performance of Building Directive (EPBD). In the final negotiation (EP vote in Plenary and with Council), phase out the use of fossil fuels in heating and cooling must remain the priority.
In March 2023 EGEC will announce the final winner among the six endorsed nominations for the Ruggero Bertani European Geothermal Innovation Award 2023. The six finalists are (in alphabetical order by company):
