Unsurprisingly, the European energy ministers, meeting in Brussels for the ‘Energy’ Council on Monday 16 December, adopted the conclusions of the Hungarian Presidency of the EU Council on the deployment of geothermal energy in the EU (see EUROPE 13538/13).
Welcomed by all the Member States in their respective speeches, the conclusions highlight the untapped potential of this low-carbon energy source, which currently accounts for just 1% of global demand.
It is “a renewable source that is sustainable and always available, as it is not dependent on weather conditions and can produce electricity and heat 24 hours a day”, said Hungarian Energy Minister Csaba Lantos.
In the conclusions, the ministers call on the European Commission to propose a strategy for heating and cooling, which should include a specific action plan for geothermal energy with measures such as “possible guarantee schemes to mitigate upfront investment risks” and “actions to tackle the lack of a skilled workforce”.
The conclusions point as well to the possibility of facilitating projects to convert underground fossil fuel installations to use for geothermal energy.
They are also calling on the Commission to form a ‘European Geothermal Alliance’ to encourage the exchange of best practice between policy-makers, industry and investors.
Presenting the International Energy Agency (IEA) report on the future of geothermal energy (see EUROPE 13545/5) at the EU Council, its Executive Director, Fatih Birol, called on Europe to jump on the bandwagon.
“This time, I hope that Europe will not allow itself to be left behind by other economic powers. (...) This is a technology that we have in Europe”, he told the European ministers.
He also said that new advanced geothermal projects could provide electricity for around $50 per megawatt-hour over the next 8 to 9 years, “which makes it competitive with solar and wind batteries”.
During their discussions, the ministers did, however, emphasise the current challenges still preventing geothermal energy from gaining momentum, such as high initial costs, the lack of geological data sharing and the need to raise public awareness of deep geothermal drilling and exploration.
To see the conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/eu2 (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)