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
EGEC Geothermal and the German Geothermal Association (BVG) are pleased to announce that the 2022 edition of the European Geothermal Congress (EGC) will be held on 17th -21st October 2022 at the Berlin Congress Centre (bcc) in Berlin, Germany.
EGEC together with 117 Members of the European Parliament, trade associations, companies and civil society came together to send a strong signal to the European Commission that "Non-renewable and low-carbon fuels, including so-called ‘low carbon’ fossil fuels, should not be included in any provision under the Renewable Energy Directive nor should they count towards the EU’s binding 2030 renewable energy target.
Fossil methane does not have a role in the EU’s Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Regulation.
The European Commission opened a public consultation to collect stakeholders’ views on the proposed Regulation to modernise the EU’s batteries legislation.
The European Commission will review and update the EU State Aid framework for energy and environment by the end of 2021.
Geothermal energy provides clean energy for sustainable agriculture, buildings, industry and transport. How much do you know about all this? Have a look at our brand-new brochure, where you can go through the basics of geothermal energy and its benefits.
Brussels, 21st January 2021 - The European Geothermal Energy Council, together with a broad coalition of 33 businesses, industry associations, NGOs and think tanks urge the European Commission to prioritise available efficient and sustainable solutions to decarbonise Europe’s building stock and avoiding the direct use of hydrogen for this purpose.
The Hungarian Geothermal System (OGRe) is an online platform that provides up-to-date and reliable information on geological, hydrogeological and geophysical data about Hungary’s geothermal energy resources via a user-friendly and publicly accessible site.
On 15 December the European Commission launched a proposal to revise rules for cross-border energy infrastructure in line with the European Green Deal.
EGEC regrets to see geothermal district heating excluded from this Regulation, especially as fossil-based distributed energy systems will continue to receive public funds and development support from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
On 10th December 2020 the European Commission proposed to modernise the EU legislation on batteries, delivering its first initiative among the actions announced in the new Circular Economy Action Plan.
