Press Release: The EU Committee of the Regions Backs Geothermal Energy

Brussels, 17^th April 2024 – The European Committee of the Regions’ plenary adopted its Opinion entitled “On the role of geothermal in localising energy production”, led by József Ribányi from the European Conservatives & Reformist Group (ECR), with nearly total support.

This reiterates that geothermal is the technology of choice for municipalities all over Europe. This is because it is local, permanent, and able to transition large sections of local populations, public and commercial buildings, industry and rural communities too. The main aspects of the CoR’s Opinion are:

• The great potential of geothermal as a local and renewable energy source for cities and regions.
• Geothermal energy empowers local and regional authorities by making them more resilient and independent on their path to deliver on the EU climate and energy targets.
• Municipalities need targeted support mechanisms to developing their own geothermal heating, cooling and electricity generation systems.
• More efficient permitting and licencing processes to scale up local geothermal energy production.
• Mechanisms to share best practices as well as access to subsurface data across Europe.

This builds upon the European Parliament’s recent call for an EU geothermal energy strategy in February 2024.

“The Committee of the Regions demanded an EU geothermal strategy because it is vital for municipalities all over Europe”, said Philippe Dumas, Secretary General of the European Geothermal Energy Council. “Our common prosperity depends on how well we support our regions transitioning to geothermal”.

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About EGEC – European Geothermal Energy Council

The European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) is a not-for-profit organisation promoting all aspects of the geothermal industry. Founded in 1998, its objective is to facilitate awareness and expansion of geothermal applications across Europe by shaping policy, improving investment conditions and steering research.

It has over 200 members from 30 countries, ranging from developers to equipment manufacturers, energy providers, national associations, consultants, research centres, geological surveys, government agencies, departments and public authorities. This allows EGEC to represent the entire geothermal sector.

EGEC is listed in the European Transparency Register No. 11458103335-07

For more information visit www.egec.org.

Contact

• Sanjeev Kumar / Head of Policy / s.kumar@egec.org // +32 2 319 99 43
• Philippe Dumas / Secretary General / p.dumas@egec.org  // +32 2 318 40 61