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 released a new factsheet in its series dedicated to the many ways in which geothermal energy could contribute to the energy transition. The focus is on the energy challenges faced by EU islands and the different ways in which geothermal energy could provide islands with a stable, sustainable, and affordable energy supply.
It was on May 8th 1818 that Francesco Larderel started the first activity that used geothermal for industrial uses; decades later, in 1904, the Prince Ginori Conti started the first production of electricity from renewable energy sources. To mark this important anniversary, CNR-IGG (Institute of Geosciences and Georgesources-National Research Council), in collaboration with Enel Green Power, organised a two-day event retracing the history, the developments, and future perspectives of geothermal energy in terms of sustainability and innovation.
The thirteenth GeoTHERM will be taking place in its meanwhile successfully established form at 14th + 15th February 2019 as Europe’s geothermal event which is also the biggest in the world.
The ETIP-DG Annual Conference 2018 will take place on Tuesday 19th June, in Brussels, Belgium. This full day event will present and assess the work carried out by the platform so far and further its work for the development of the Strategic Research Agenda.
EGEC, in cooperation with Stichting Platform Geothermie, BodemenergieNL, and the main event sponsor Energie Beheer Nederland B.V. (EBN) are pleased to announce that the 2019 edition of the European Geothermal Congress (EGC) will be held on 11-14th June 2019 at the World Forum, The Hague, in The Netherlands.
The European Court of Auditors, in its "Special Report n.5", examined the link between renewable energy and rural development. Through a review of the EU policy framework for renewable energy as a whole, it assessed how it has integrated specific rural development aspects and whether such framework used to spend funds earmarked for rural development had been designed and implemented in a way that facilitated both renewable energy deployment and sustainable rural development. Geothermal is a virtuous example.
The Italian Geothermal Union (UGI) has published the study “Estimates of geothermal energy growth in Italy 2016-2030, with projections to 2050 ”, one of the most complete and updated work currently available on the topic of the likely contribution of the heat from the Earth to Italian energy needs.
The Development Bank of Turkey (TKB) has issued a call for expression of interest under its newly launched geothermal Risk Sharing Mechanism for Turkey, a joint effort by TKB and the World Bank.
In the birthplace of geothermal energy (Pisa, Italy), the European Technology & Innovation Platform on Deep Geothermal has presented its “Vision for Deep Geothermal” to look at future development of deep geothermal energy and highlight the great potential of untapped geothermal resources across Europe.
GPC IP has announced the successful completion and test of a second subhorizontal geothermal well on the Paris suburban Cachan site for its customer DALKIA (EDF Group).
