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
A new project GEO-ENERGY EUROPE is launching to build a transnational cluster, specifically aimed at increasing SMEs performance & competitiveness in all industries concerned by the use of subsurface for energy, or "geo-energy".
In September 2017, category 5 hurricane "Maria" hit the Caribbean islands just a few days after the devastation already carried in the area by the previous one, "Irma".
The environmental impact of geothermal energy has recently been a topic of debate in the European Parliament, raised by Italian MEPs. Now, a scientific paper published by Manzella et all. analyses the issue more in depth and provides an assessment of the environmental impact of geothermal in Tuscany and the regulatory background. It concludes that “partial or incorrectly provided information represents a serious threat to geothermal development”.
The SET Plan temporary working group (TGW) on Deep Geothermal Systems approved today the Implementation Plan.
A training course in deep geothermal systems is being organised by the Centre for Hydrogeology and Geothermics of the University of Neuchatel (Switzerland).
IRENA has released its latest report on Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2017, which highlights cost for renewable energy projects and levelized cost of electricity generation, showing the continued competitiveness of geothermal energy.
The European Parliament voted today in Plenary in Strasbourg three key files of the Clean Energy Package: the Renewable Energy Directive, the Energy Efficiency Directive and the Governance of the Energy Union Regulation. EGEC has released its comments positively welcoming the outcomes of the vote for the clean energy transition.
After the vote in the European Parliament Plenary of January 17 on key files of the Clean Energy Package, the RES Heating and Cooling associations came together to call on the European Council not to turn its back on their business in the future.
MEP Simona Bonafè (S&D) visited Larderello (Italy) on Monday January 8th to meet with local geothermal realities.
The European magazine The European Files released a special report titled "Achieve European Global Leadership In Renewable Energy", where stakeholders and MEPs discuss the challenges that European policies must face to further develop renewable energy sources beyond 2020 and integrate their growing share in the energy sector. EGEC contributed to the issue with an article on "Fuel switch to renewables in the heating sector" by Secretary General Philippe Dumas.
