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
On 25th July 2016, Italian renewables developer Enel Green Power SpA inaugurated its innovative geothermal power plant Bagnore 4, in Tuscany, Italy.
The forthcoming revision of the renewable energy directive must act as a spine for the 2030 renewable energy target and hold Member States to account, say renewable energy associations. Read the full statement here.
We are pleased to announce that the European Technology and Innovation Platform (ETIP) on Deep Geothermal has been recognised by the European Commission on 30th June 2016.
The Commission officially acknowledges the ETIP as a tool to strengthen cooperation with Stakeholders under the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan), as part of the H2020 programme.
For further information on the ETIP on Deep Geothermal please visit the Geoelec website.
IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Agency, has released a new report providing policy makers, financial institutions and project developers with a range of options to reduce financial risks and unlock investments in renewable energy. In a press release accompanying the launch of the report, IRENA calls on public finance institutions to ʽfocus on leveraging private investment by increasing the use of existing guarantees and developing new, targeted risk mitigation instrumentsʼ.
EGEC very much welcomes the report, which promotes a number of risk mitigation instruments dedicated to geothermal energy, including convertible grants and guarantee funds. Both instruments will be critical for the development of more geothermal projects in Europe as well as in other regions of the world.
The full report is available here.
On 15th of June, EGEC and partners of the FROnT project organised a very successful conference on how to make the EU number one in renewable heating and cooling.
Download the full European and National reports
The behaviours and attitudes of European consumers towards the heating, cooling, and hot water systems they use have been analysed in a study of more than 5500 participants representing private households, tertiary buildings, and industry.
The study examined why current systems are used, where users get information about thermal energy, why they choose some systems rather than others, how they perceive different sources of energy, and their sensitivity to price changes. The research was conducted by a consortium of public authorities and renewable energy groups as part of the FROnT project.
The research was conducted in order to provide public authorities and businesses with information about how to effectively communicate with their audiences about the energy choices they make, and to better understand how a shift to renewables can be achieved.
Some clear trends were found from the data collected in the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. For all sectors, professionals are the main source of information but private users also rely heavily on the advice of their relatives. Total economic savings is one of the most important factors when choosing a system; it’s the most important factor for the residential sector and the second most important for others, coming just behind reliability.
The residential sector is the least aware of renewables and the tertiary the most aware, but the industrial sector is the most willing to pay for Renewable Heating and cooling. In general, consumers think that renewables have high investment costs but deliver high economic savings. It is the need for an initial investment that stops most people installing renewables. Most people are largely satisfied with their existing systems, but are unhappy about fuel prices.
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Paolo Bertuzzi, Turboden CEO (left), and Senator Stefano Vaccari, Italy (right)[/caption]
COGEN, the European association for the promotion of cogeneration, has given its Recognition Award 2016 (Technology and innovation category) to Turboden.
With more than 35 years of experience in ORC turbogenerators, Turboden has designed, manufactured, and delivered more than 320 turbogenerators worldwide, of which more than 250 are cogenerative. The Italian company has produced and commissioned three combined heat and power geothermal units; one in Austria (Altheim) and two in Germany (Bavaria), with a total installed capacity of 10 MWe electric. A further 4.2 MW geothermal power plant in Croatia is currently under construction.
A revolutionary geothermal heat plant in Ritterschoffen, France, was inaugurated On 7th June in France by Électricité de Strasbourg, Roquette, and Caisse des Dépôts.
The plant uses geothermal fluid at 165°C extracted at depths of 2,500m to deliver heat for industrial processes to a factory 15km away. With an annual production of 24MWth, it will save the emissions of 39,000 tonnes of CO2 from the factory.
A world first and a model for the energy transition, the plant is an important step towards the wider development of Enhanced Geothermal Systems, which allows deep geothermal to be exploited in new areas. Together with the ground breaking EGS power project in nearby Soulz-sous-forest, it demonstrates that deep geothermal energy can be developed almost anywhere powering and heating a cleaner, more sustainable Europe.
Investment for the €55 million plant came principally from ADEME and the regional authorities.
Segolene Royale, French minister for the environment, energy, and the sea officially opened the plant. She highlighted the importance of the collaboration between Caisse des depots,
Following the public consultation on 'Planning and reporting obligations as part of the Energy Union Governance’, EGEC and ten other RES associations express their views on Member States' planning and reporting obligations.
