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
During the opening
ceremony of the GeoTHERM Exhibition and Congress 2019, the Ruggero Bertani European
Geothermal Innovation Award 2019 was awarded to the Swiss company Jansen AG,
for their Jansen HIPRESS borehole heat exchanger, a novel technology for
applications in depths of 300+ meters, that allows the exploitation of high
temperatures at greater depths improving, at the same time, the efficiency of
the heat pump.
The SMARTSPEND project aims for more and better designed public support for energy technology Research & Innovation
EGEC is pleased to announce the five endorsed nominations for the Ruggero Bertani European Geothermal Innovation Award 2019. The final candidates are (in alphabetical order):
POLE AVENIA and 6 out of its 7 partners in the GEO-ENERGY EUROPE project have signed a Partnership Agreement in Dublin last Monday, January 21, 2019 to formalize the creation of the GEO-ENERGY EUROPE metacluster and sustain its life beyond the end of the ongoing project timeframe (2018-2019).
Registration for the European Geothermal Congress 2019 is now open: take advantage of the Early Bird!
The commissioning of thelargest ORC system in Europe of 17.5 MWe in the Velika Ciglena geothermal power plant, Croatia, was completed by Turboden for the Turkish customer Geoen – MB Holding, in December 2018. The Velika Ciglena project exploits steam and hot water at 170°C to produce electricity to feed the local power grid.
The General Confederation of Italian Industry (Confindustria) published this week a “White Paper for an Efficient development of Renewable Energy Resources in Italy to 2030” (in Italian). Confindustria recognizes traditional geothermal power plants as the main components of Italy’s geothermal production.
COP24 is kicking off in Katowice, Poland on 3 December. This round of international climate negotiations among partners of the UNFCCC is reputed the most important one following the COP21 in Paris where the parties agreed to pursue an objective of limiting the rise of global temperature well below 2°C, aiming for 1.5°C. Several events on geothermal energy are being organised.
On 28 November 2018, policymakers and industry gathered at the Committee of the Regions for the High-Level Round Table on the Decarbonisation of the Heating Sector, a joint event organised by the European Commission and the Decarb Heat Initiative partners. The timing is right: on the very same day that the European Commission launched its Long-term Emissions Reduction Strategy, the topic of decarbonising heat received the attention it deserves.
Geothermal energy is the energy stored in the form of heat below the surface of solid earth. The deeper one penetrates the interior of the Earth, the warmer it becomes. It is inexhaustible by human standards and so far, it has been used only to a limited extent for heating, cooling and the generation of electricity.
