Renewable Energy Magazine
Summary
The effects of the COVID-19 crisis should be short-term and the growing interest in geothermal energy in Europe is expected to boost investment in the sector, according to the European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC).
2010-2020 was a decade of sustained growth disrupted at the end by the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, finds the European Geothermal Market Report 2020 published today by the European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC).
“Since the first EGEC Market Report back in 2010, the European geothermal sector grew and transformed: we have seen bad policy decisions stop its rapid growth in several key markets, but we have also seen this technology becoming mainstream with geothermal heat pumps over the last decade” said Miklos Antics, EGEC President. “The present decade challenged us with a difficult and complicated start. We are however confident that we have just started the Geothermal Decade, and that rapid growth awaits the geothermal sector.”
Philippe Dumas, EGEC Secretary General, added that the past 10 years highlight how rapidly the geothermal sector can evolve, having witnessed the rapid emergence of leading geothermal countries in heating and cooling, such as the Netherlands and Germany.
In 2020 there were 350 geothermal district heating systems in operation, and a further 232 in various stages of development. However, 2020 is defined by no new systems coming online, apart from the extension of Hellishedi in Iceland. Despite the COVID-19 short term consequences, the European geothermal heating and cooling industry remains on a positive trend. Most European countries are looking to significantly expand their use of this renewable resource as they pursue policies to decarbonise heating and cooling.
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