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 first appointment of the European project GEOENVI aimed at tackling environmental concerns for the use of geothermal energy and propose new technological and normative solutions.
Rome 18.04.2019 The GEONVI project was presented this morning in Rome. The project, supported under Horizon 2020, is aimed at implementing a planning strategy together with public decision-makers to ensure that deep geothermal energy can play an important role in the development of energy systems, in line with the principles of sustainability. The conference was opened by Mr. Davide Crippa, Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Economic Development: “The decision to include geothermal energy within the Fer2 decree stems from the need to respond to new requirements for emissions, which is also the basis of the GEOENVI project, fundamental precisely because of its ability to identify forward-looking ideas for the abatement of polluting systems and also for the promotion of new technologies”. The Undersecretary then illustrated the Government's forthcoming initiatives, announcing a consultation aimed at tracing simplified operational guidelines and procedures connected to geothermal installations, with an eye also to the optimal planning of the refurbishment of existing installations. As for new installations, Mr Crippa underlined instead the priority to realize a balanced and punctual plan to tackle emissions reduction, aiming at the best technologies ".
"The development of renewable sources and decarbonisation represent a great opportunity for economic growth, environmental improvement and the promotion of the Italian supply chain, especially in the case of technology such as geothermal energy, an element of excellence for our energy system", commented Simone Mori, President of Electricità Futura. "The goal of the GEOENVI project, widely shared by Elettricità Futura, is to implement this technology through solutions that are environmentally acceptable as well as harmoniously integrated with our territory. The numerous adhesions by Italian partners to this project demonstrates the will for our sector, to realize inclusive planning that will see in the Decree Fer2 an effective tool”.
As highlighted by Philippe Dumas, EGEC Secretary General and coordinator of the GEOENVI project, "The geothermal energy market in Europe is developing strongly: the installed electric power in 2018 has indeed exceeded 3 GWe (with annual production of over 21 TWh), and 300 geothermal district heating plants and 2 million geothermal heat pumps are currently in operation. In Italy, geothermal energy is an important industrial sector, which involves small and large companies, is highly innovative and exports all over the world, also thanks to a historically strong and consolidated internal market".
The topic of research and innovation in the geothermal sector with particular reference to minimizing environmental impact was developed by Riccardo Basosi, Italian Energy Representative in Horizon 2020 and MIUR Delegate for the EU Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan). In his speech, Mr Basosi highlighted the substantial commitment of Italy that participates in 12 Projects out of 18 financed by the European Commission and coordinates 4 with a success rate and financial recovery of 13.5% of the total expenditure, for an amount of € 20 million.
One of the strengths of the GEOENVI project, according to Loredana Torsello, head of international projects of CoSviG and Italian referent for the SET Plan on deep geothermal energy, is the effort that the project partners are dedicating to defining a rigorous and reliable methodological path that could nevertheless become an accessible and available tool for public decision-makers involved in defining regulatory and authorization procedures that could enable the development of geothermal energy consistent with the criteria of sustainable development of the energy and territorial systems involved. This will give the operators a strong push to adopt a shared technical and scientific approach at European level with regards to evaluation methodologies. Moreover, thanks to the sharing of a robust and shared methodological approach for the evaluation of impacts, citizens and local communities will be able to mitigate their concerns and contribute in an informed way to the definition of development of geothermal energy more consistent with the sensitivities and the vocations of the territories involved.
Daniele Fiaschi, associate professor of Renewable Energy and Energy Systems at the University of Florence and coordinator of the Italian group in the inter-university consortium CSGI, partner of the GEOENVI project, showcased the approach for the harmonization of the parameters for the environmental impact assessment guidelines of deep geothermal energy, which is one of the primary objectives of the project. Among these, the PES (Primary Energy Saving) allows for example to estimate the role of geothermal energy in the national thermoelectric landscape and its contribution to the reduction of polluting emissions deriving from the use of fossil fuels.
The mitigation of environmental impacts is already a reality based on numerous environmental parameters, as highlighted by Adele Manzella, a representative for CNR working group partner of the project and President of Unione Geotermica Italiana. Italy and Tuscany are at the forefront of this sector, and GEOENVI will describe and compare available technologies, including monitoring technologies, and methods to address and minimize critical issues, starting with the legal provisions already in force in various countries.
"Enel Green Power has inherited and developed this important technology that is part of the heritage of our country's history," commented Carlo Pignoloni, Enel Green Power's Renewable Energy Manager. According to Mr. Pignoloni, “Thanks to continuous interaction with the institutions, [EGP] has been tracing a path of sustainable development within the industrial value- chain, with innovative solutions that favor the re-use of heat and CO2 to favor the economic and social development of the territory, also with an eye towards circular economy ".
In conclusion, Maria Laura Parisi, Researcher at the University of Siena and national co-chair of the Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technologies working group of the Italian Association LCA, illustrated the objectives of the GEOENVI project for the proposal of guidelines for the use of LCA methodology aimed at assessing the environmental performance of geothermal systems. In this context, Ms. Parisi highlighted the crucial methodological aspects for the definition of a standardized approach for the calculation of the eco-profiles of plants for a geothermal generation.
Geothermal
energy utilisation in The Netherlands has been experiencing a tremendous growth
in recent years, mainly due to the development of policy instruments that
tackled barriers such as geological uncertainty and the difficulty in ensuring
adequate financing.
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.
