On 30 September, the Cleantech Friendship Group launched its Geothermal Working Group at the European Parliament. Chaired by Vice-President Martin Hojsík, Members of this Group will engage in high-level discussions with investors and industrials on what is needed to deploy innovative geothermal technologies commercially at scale.
At a time when Europe is seeking sources of secure, domestic and low-carbon energy to strengthen its strategic autonomy, industrial competitiveness and decarbonisation, a new generation of geothermal technologies has the potential to play a crucial role in the transition.
While geothermal power was originally limited to places with favourable conditions, technological advances have unlocked access to heat resources far beyond traditional geothermal locations. A recent Ember report finds that next-generation technologies alone could replace 42% of the EU’s fossil electricity generation.
The Geothermal Working Group aims to turn this technological promise into action. Key points of discussion at the launch event included:
• The role geothermal can play in Europe’s future energy mix, including power generation, industrial heat and district heating.
• The commercial readiness of next-gen geothermal technologies, with a focus on closed-loop geothermal and enhanced geothermal.
• The current barriers to scaling next-generation geothermal technologies in Europe and how to overcome these through an enabling policy framework and close collaboration between private and public finance.
This event brought together Members of the Cleantech Friendship Group Martin Hojsík, Lídia Pereira, Davor Ivo Stier, Jan Farský and Annalisa Corrado with investors and industrials from the European geothermal ecosystem.
