EGEC NEWSTHE VOICE OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY IN EUROPE
Issue n°7. JULY 2008
WELCOME… to the second issue of the EGEC Newsletter…for 2008

A word from the EGEC president:
Dear members of EGEC, dear readers of this newsletter,May 12, 2008 marked the 10th anniversary of the first general assembly of EGEC.
Ten years ago a group of leaders from geothermal industry, national associations,and some R&D institutions had gathered in the small Bavarian city of Straubing, todiscuss the need for a European representation of geothermal industry interests.
The minutes of the 1st general assembly show 21 companies and national
associations as founding members of EGEC. We plan to have a small festivity for commemorating thisevent, and for looking into the future steps to be taken, at our next annual general meeting on Sept. 5,
2008, in the Renewable Energy House in Brussels. A lot has developed from the humble beginnings in1998 to our strong representation in the heart of the EU capital; some of the steps will be recalled in moredetail in September. I like to invite you all to join us for this occasion, and look forward to see many ofyou in Brussels!
The occasion of the annual general meeting on 5.9.2008 shall also be used to define new geothermal
targets for the years to come, and in particular for the target year 2020 of the upcoming EU directive on
RES. EGEC had first set targets with the “Ferrara Declaration” of 1999, and now is the time to evaluate
what has been achieved, and to adjust for the future. A research agenda for geothermal energy will be amost important part of such a development strategy, and thus we like to discuss with you the R&D needs
to make the targets possible to be achieved at all!
The main part of our work this year is to make sure that the upcoming EU directive on Renewable
Energies will meet the needs of the geothermal industry, in order to contribute substantially to the overalltargets of RES share and emissions reductions set by the European Council in spring 2007. This workmeans numerous statements, letters, discussions, phone calls, etc., and will keep EGEC busy for somemore time. With the same intent to provide a good ground for geothermal development EGEC hasorganised or co-organised a number of workshops and meetings, both to promote geothermal energy use
in general, and to provide in-depth information on markets and technologies for the geothermal industry.
You can find some reports from such activities in this newsletter.
In the Ferrara declaration of 1999 we had set us a goal to make sure that the word “geothermal energy”
becomes widely known and understood in the public. We
are on a good way for that, and the “Year of the Planet”
This Issue:
2008 should provide an extra momentum to promote
geothermal energy use.
Now I like to wish you a pleasant summer break 2008, andinteresting reading!
Dr. Burkhard Sanner-

Policy2
News5News from EGEC 7
Events11

POLICYEGEC Position on the Directive for Renewable Energy Sources
In the beginning of 2008, 23 January, the European Commission presented its proposal for a directive topromote the use of RES and reach the target of 20% by 2020 set in March 2007 by the European Council.
Proposal is for the time being discusseded by the Council and European Parliament for approval.
The European Parliament's Rapporteur on the Renewables Directive, Claude Turmes, has published his
draft report in May 2008. He suggests a series of changes to the original proposal tabled by the European
Commission. Most of Mr Turmes' proposals strengthen the original text of the Commission and clarify
issues where the proposal was ambiguous. All major areas where the Commission’s proposal was too
weak are tackled in a substantial way: A further removal of administrative barriers, the strengthening ofpriority grid access, the setting of binding interim targets for Member States while giving them adequate
flexibility mechanisms and offering new financing possibilities are all useful tools to meet the 20% target.
The European Geothermal Energy Council welcomes most of the proposed changes and urges
Parliamentarians to further improve the draft directive.
EGEC notices with great satisfaction, that the Parliament's Rapporteur has proposed to adopt following
definition, which is widely used by the geothermal industry and is already part of some national
standards: Geothermal Energy is the energy in form of heat beneath the surface of the solid earth.
Furthermore, Mr Turmes recognized that shallow geothermal has to be considered as a renewable energy
source ; but we have to consider the non-renewables final energy input required to operate the systems, tobe deduced from the shallow geothermal heating and cooling.
Mr Turmes' Report is now discussed in the ITRE committee of the European Parliament
Before the European Parliament votes on this directive, the geothermal sector wants to outline the basic
needs and recommendations for the content of such a directive:
Calculation of the share of energy from RES
In his draft report, the Rapporteur let in Art 5.5.2, the fact we have to deduce of the primary energy input
required to operate shallow geothermal systems, to count the renewable part of the thermal energy
produced.
But EGEC and EREC consider that as for all energy systems, the final energy input has to be deduced
from the shallow geothermal h&c production, and not the primary energy input (please refer to the graphin the annex, for clarification).
Information and training
In its Directive proposal, the European Commission included a specific article on information on support
measures, costs and benefits and energy efficiency of renewable energies. EGEC agrees that awarenessand transparency are vital to the success of renewable energies. Furthermore, the proposed introduction ofa certification of installers by accredited training programmes should also positively contribute to thewidening of knowledge of renewable energy technologies.
The proposal of the Commission nevertheless lacks clarity and consistency and inter alia mixes-up theissues of accreditation of training courses/bodies and certification of installers.
EGEC therefore regrets that the Rapporteur did not propose to clarify these provisions; especially by
distinguishing certification from accreditation in Annex IV and describing more precisely the theoreticalpart of training for each technology and notably for shallow geothermal energy (ground source heatpumps).
In addition, EGEC considers it vital that relevant stakeholders are closely involved in the development of
the accreditation and certification schemes in order to be able to deliver their technical expertise.
EGEC believes it is essential that the quality of the installations is ensured via certified installers in theframework of the obligation to introduce minimum levels of renewable energy sources in new or

EGEC aisbl – Renewable Energy House – Rue d´Arlon 63-65 – B-1040 Bruxelles – Belgium – www.egec.org

2refurbished buildings. A sufficient adaptation period should however be granted for the development ofcertification schemes as the latter are still in an embryonic stage in a number of Member States.
Accreditation of installers
Shallow geothermal installers and heat pump installers have to be differentiated in the accreditation of
installers. While both fields are involved in the installation of a successful ground source heat pump plant,
their training and education, and the affiliation to professional organisations differ substantially:- The shallow geothermal part is done by drillers and pipe-layers, a sub-sector of the constructionindustry,- while the installation of the heat pump itself is done by personal with skills in refrigeration andheating/cooling technology.
Both qualifications are rarely found with one person, or inside one single company.
The geothermal resources, ground source temperatures of different regions, soil and rock identification,
groundwater protection while drilling, regulations on using geothermal resources, and similar items arecovered by the shallow geothermal installers.
The ENVI Committee had a first vote on 08/07/2008. The ITRE Committee will vote on the amendments
the 01/09/2008.
The future targets of the legislation are to be adopted on the 1st half of 2009 and by the 31 of March
2010, all EU Member states shall present their National Action Plans (NAPs) on renewables.

During the EGEC “Restmac” seminar in Strasbourg on 18 June 2008 (more detail below) the rapporteur for the
RES directive, Claude Turmes MEP (right) gave an update on the current discussion. EGEC members and guests
had a chance to learn the latest situation and exchange views with Mr. Turmes (photos: EGEC).

MEPs want two billion per year for clean technologies
During their plenary meeting in Strasbourg on 9 July, The European Parliament adopted a report to urge
the Commission to make available considerable funds to drive the use of less polluting energy
technologies as part of the EU's efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions: "From 2009 onwards, atleast EUR two billion per annum of the European Union budget" should be spent in support of "new low
carbon and zero carbon technology R&D, demonstration and commercialisation".
The report sets out the Parliament's views on the Strategic Energy Technology (SET Plan), proposed by
the Commission in November 2007.
The SET Plan proposes several measures designed to boost the uptake of 'low carbon' energy
technologies, including through European industrial initiatives for technologies like wind, solar and bioenergy as well as nuclear fission, carbon capture and storage and 'smart' electricity grids.
This report agrees in broad terms with the technology focus of the SET Plan, but argues that more needs
to be done to improve the energy efficiency of the EU's economy. The report also laments that theCommission's Communication on the SET Plan did not tackle the tricky issue of how, and by whom, newtechnology research should be financed.
The Commission is expected to present a separate communication on SET Plan financing in December
2008.
EGEC aisbl – Renewable Energy House – Rue d´Arlon 63-65 – B-1040 Bruxelles – Belgium – www.egec.org

3

The SET Plan and this report come against the backdrop of declining EU efforts to boost research anddevelopment investments in the energy sector. Unlike in the US and Japan, the flow of funding into newtechnology research has decreased consistently in Europe since the 1980s. Most European energy firms
still spend less than 1% of their net sales on clean technology innovation, according to the Commission.

Strategic Energy Technology plan – EGEC Position
EGEC regrets the fact that geothermal energy is not considered for concrete actions in the SET Plan, andthat in general not enough references are made to the heating & cooling sector.
So the geothermal industry proposes to add an action “Geothermal Power Production everywhere throughEnhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS)” to the Key EU technology challenges for the next 10 years tomeet the 2020 targets. The main element would be the construction of demonstration plants for the EGS
technology, based on the European EGS project in Soultz-sous-Forêts as a pilot plant. The goal should be
to have at the end of the program about 200 MWel of installed power operational, producing base-loadenergy with a load factor of >90%, and thus generating about 1580 GWh of electricity each year.
R&D development as well as a common European geoscience data platform could substantially support
the application of EGS technology throughout the Member States, and will also be of great help for othergeothermal technologies yet on the market.
In the RES heating and cooling sector, some of the main instruments to achieve a sustainable growth areaccompanying actions like technical guidelines, standards, and training (creating the necessary skilledworkforce). This assessment leads to adopt the following objectives:- Development of education and of appropriate training structures;- Creation of a EU-wide certification scheme for both planners and installers of GSHP
- Defining of and assistance in development of the necessary EU-wide technical standards- Dissemination of results through networks.
- Create new geothermal businesses and sustain a growing market

The Sustainable Energy Europe Award Competition
Join efforts to help change the landscape of energy in Europe!
The Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign is a major initiative from the European Commission/DG
Transport and Energy which aims at promoting, showcasing and rewarding outstanding projects andprograms with innovative actions and impressive results.
Based on the success of last year’s edition, the 3rd edition of the SEE Award Competition is now
officially launched. Towards the promotion of sustainable energy, EC gives us the opportunity to become
part of such an intriguing campaign, launch a project and eventually win an award.
The Commission encourages individuals and companies to become official Partner before 31 October
2008 and that means automatically the participation in the prestigious annual award ceremony, to be held
in Brussels on 10 February 2009.
For more details on joining the SEE Campaign and submitting your project in this year’s competition,
visit: http://www.sustenergy.org/tpl/page.cfm?pageName=award_competition

Second Strategic Energy Review
In March 2007, the European Council committed to an integrated
climate and energy policy with ambitious targets for 2020 and beyond.
In context of the rapid change in global energy situation, with the main lines of EU energy policy
established, both the European Council (March 2008 European Council, Presidency conclusions, par.25)
and the European Parliament (European Parliament Resolution (2007)413 "Towards a common
European foreign policy on energy") have underlined the importance which they attach to enhancing theenergy security of the EU and its Member States and to further developing the external dimension of the
EU energy policy.
EGEC aisbl – Renewable Energy House – Rue d´Arlon 63-65 – B-1040 Bruxelles – Belgium – www.egec.org

4Responding to this, the 2nd Strategic Energy Review to be prepared by the Commission will focus mainlyon the related issues of security of supply and external relations.
The Commission is launching a public consultation on the main topics to be covered by the Strategic
Review. The consultation is open from 1 July 2008 and closes on 10 September 2008.

Ø http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/ipm/forms/dispatch?form=StratgyReviewII

NEWS
Several FP7 calls launched
FP7 stands for the Seventh Framework Programme for Research andTechnological Development. This is the EU's main instrument for funding
research in Europe and it will run from 2007-2013.
A call for proposals relevant to renewable energy research has been published in
April 2008.
On 20/06/2008, the EC organized an Infoday to explain all the details about it. The strict deadline tosubmit a research project will be October 8th, 2008 at 17:00:00 (Brussels local time).
This year the call is open only for geothermal electricity with two sub-topics:“Increased electricity production from Enhanced Geothermal Systems” and “from low enthalpy
geothermal sources”.
For more information: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/home_en.html > Find a Call > tape “Energy”> AREA ENERGY.2.4: GEOTHERMAL > pp24-25
Moreover, the call 2009 will be published in July 2008 and an Infoday will be organized in Sept. 2008. It
should focus for us on seismicity for geothermal electricity, and geothermal heating & cooling.

EGEC takes part of the Technology Platform (TP) For District Heating & Cooling

EuroHeat & Power on February 26, 2008, organised a RTD Convention. The topic was:
"Towards a European Technology Platform for District Heating & Cooling”.
See presentations on www.euroheat.org
On behalf of EGEC, Pierre Ungemach attended the event; he made a presentationon "Geothermal in District Heating".
EGEC supports the initiative to establish a European Technology Platform forDistrict Heating and Cooling as a linking technology for future technologies.
A Technology platform for DHC aims at:- developing a European vision for the district heating and cooling sectors towards 2020 as well as for2050- developing a common Strategic Research Agenda- creating the framework for implementing the Research Agenda- increasing the market deployment of DHC
Stakeholders are manufacturing companies, utilities, universities, associations, national and internationalorganizations, research institutes etc. that have interests in the development of the DHC sector.
More information on geothermal district heating in our brochure > see egec website: publications.
EGEC aisbl – Renewable Energy House – Rue d´Arlon 63-65 – B-1040 Bruxelles – Belgium – www.egec.org

5Google looks at invest in geothermal systems
Google is prepared to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in finding cheaper, cleaner alternative energy
sources. They are looking at investing in a firm that creates energy through geothermal systems.
Google said in November it planned to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to help drive the cost ofelectricity made from renewable sources below the price of power generated from coal-fired plants.
Enhanced geothermal systems, or EGS, create power by pumping water into hot rocks in the groundrather than harvesting hot water already there.
Google. declared they are "carefully at a couple of investment opportunities in companies" with EGS
technology.
The United States Department of Energy has said that more than 100,000MW of EGS capacity may beavailable in the continental US, a 40-fold increase over present geothermal power generating capacity.

The 9th International Energy Agency HEAT PUMP CONFERENCE, 20 - 22 May 2008, in
Zürich, Switzerland.
This conference has been the ninth in a series of triennial conferences under the
auspices of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Heat Pump
Program. The conference focused on “Advances and Prospects
in Technology, Application and Markets”, summarizing thecurrent technology and market status, progress, and trends.
Geothermal heat pumps had a prominent place in the program, with a dedicated oral
session and a large number of posters. An official paper from EGEC was presented concerning standards
and regulations for GSHP; the slides can be downloaded from the EGEC website:
http://www.egec.org/target/Sanner%20GSHP%20Standards.pdf
The proceedings of the conference have been published on CD-ROM for the participants, and might
become available through the IEA Heat Pump Centre. More info: www.hpc2008.org/
One of the workshops in the frame of the conference was organized by the Groundreach project, where
EGEC is a partner. The full-day workshop gave an overview of the market for GSHP in Europe and thetechnological status, including several best-practice case studies. The documentation can be found on the
Groundreach website: http://www.groundreach.eu

The 2008 POWER-GEN Europe, Renewable Energy Europe and POWERGRID Europe
Conference & Exhibition, 3-5 June in FIERA Milano - City Centre, Milan, Italy.

Ca. 11.000 participants from more than 100 countries weregathered in Milan, offering a wealth of business opportunities
with the industry’s leading professionals and key decision
makers. During the event participants had the opportunity tosuccessfully develop their business, to interact with the largest group of professionals from the European
power industry and to exhibit some of the Europe’s largest showcase of products and services tailored for
power generation.
Dr Ruggero Bertani (ENEL), EGEC Coordinator for Geothermal Electricity, chaired one session on
Track 1 Session 2: Italy - Open for Renewable Business.
More information available from: http://ree08.events.pennnet.com/fl/index.cfm

EGEC aisbl – Renewable Energy House – Rue d´Arlon 63-65 – B-1040 Bruxelles – Belgium – www.egec.org

6EU Gateway ProgrammeThis programme aims at assisting EU companies in their attempts to develop strong business
relations with companies in Japan and Korea. One of the sectors targeted by this Programme isEnvironment and Energy, with a particular focus on the European Geothermal Energy Industry sector .
The EU Gateway Programme provides European Union companies with the tools to develop a strong
foothold in the Japanese and Korean markets. With support provided at every step of the way, EU
companies benefit from being coached by a team of dedicated and experienced professionals in thebusiness etiquette of these dynamic markets.
The Programme runs for a multi-annual period from 2008 to 2015, focusing on assistance in specifictechnological sectors with a high market potential in Japan and Korea as well as design sectors.
More info : www.eu-gateway.eu

NEWS from EGEC
Celebration EGEC 10th anniversary
The actors in the geothermal sector are invited to celebrate our 10 year anniversary with all thegeothermal community, on September 5th, 2008 at 12h00. A Lunch will be served for this occasion.
Location: Renewable Energy House, 63-65 rue d’Arlon, 1040 Brussels, Belgium
EGEC is active now for 10 years to promote the geothermal sector. It is meanwhile recognized by the EU
and the International Institutions as the voice of the geothermal industry in Europe.
Today the geothermal market is growing in all European countries. Some of our targets from the 1999
Ferrara Declaration have been achieved, and for others we are well on track. And a lot still needs to be
done! We like to invite you to (re-)define the strategy of our sector, to help the EU in reaching 20% of
RES for the total energy supply by 2020, with a large contribution from geothermal energy.
In the afternoon (13h30 – 17h00), a Debate will be organised on the policy agenda for the next 10 years,
with two main topics:- 13h30 / 15h00 “A Research Agenda for Geothermal Energy”.
- 15h30 / 17h00 “ The Brussels Declaration: Geothermal Energy target for 2020”
Registration is required > com@egec.org
More information on : www.egec.org

Ø RESTMAC
EGEC published Brochures:- . on District heating- . on Agriculture- . on Snow-melting and De-icing- . on Desalination- . on Electricity and CHP
A last one on GSHP will be published soon.
All brochures for download from the “publications” page of www.egec.org
EGEC also organized some further workshops within the Restmac project. The presentations of theseworkshops, as well as those of the 2007 workshops in Malmö and Bratislava, can be downloaded from the“publications” page of www.egec.org
EGEC aisbl – Renewable Energy House – Rue d´Arlon 63-65 – B-1040 Bruxelles – Belgium – www.egec.org

7

EGEC Workshop on “Agricultural and commercial applications of geothermal energy”
within RESTMAC project, Budapest, Hungary 25 April 2008
Participants discussed the applications for geothermal Heating & Cooling in agriculture and in thecommercial sector. Potential for agricultural use in Eastern Europe, agro-industry perspectives,
greenhouses construction, but also for use in transport
infrastructure, supermarkets and so on were subjects puton the table.
Experts from Austria, France, Germany, Hungary,
Romania and the Netherlands presented their experience
gained in that field and gave profound insight in terms ofpracticality and promotion of this technology.
The Conference was held during the RENEXPO 08
exposition at HUNGEXPO Budapest Fair Center thattook place from the 24th to 26th of April 2008. Both theEuropean Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) and theEnergy Center Bratislava (ECB), in cooperation with The EGEC booth at RENEXPO, with Vilma
REECO, had the responsibility for the program and the Zotou (EGEC staff, centre) and some of the
speakers (from left: Popovski, Ungemach,whole organization.
Rosca, Sanner

EGEC Workshop on “Geothermal Heating & Cooling in Italy & Mediterranean countries:
a growing market” within RESTMAC project, Milan, Italy, 19 May 2008
EGEC workshop on “Geothermal Heating & Cooling in Italy & Mediterranean countries: a growing
market” took place in Milan (Italy) on Monday 19 May 2008.
The meeting, tried to promote geothermal Heating & Cooling implementation in a specific target country
and a specific target region, respectively.
Distinguished speakers from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Turkey developed various topics, among
them: Deep geothermal potential in Italy, shallow geothermal potential in Italy, planning and design for
GSHP, GSHP H&C development in Spain, special case-studies from the Mediterranean region.
More than 50 participants had the chance to learn about the current development, and how it might beused in their sector and area of responsibility.

“Geothermal veterans” at the Milan Workshop (left, from left: Claudio Sommaruga and Roberto Carella, former
EGEC board member), and view into the lecture hall of Milan´s “Casa dell´Energia” (right)

EGEC Workshop on “Geothermal Electricity and CHP in Europe: a technology for our
future” within RESTMAC project, Strasbourg, France, 18 June 2008
The workshop on “Geothermal Electricity & CHP in Europe: a technology for our future”held in
Strasbourg (France), “Palais des congrès”, in the direct vicinity of the European Parliament, completed aseries of meetings within the RESTMAC project sponsored by the EC.
Three sessions were attended; starting with Technology Perspectives, (Engine Project Conclusions,
Combined Heat & Power, Enhanced Geothermal System, Classic geothermal power plants),
demonstrating a few Case Studies from Larderello, Unterhaching, Soultz and Madrid, and concluding
with a Policy and Market overview. In particular for the last session the venue proved worthwhile, as it
EGEC aisbl – Renewable Energy House – Rue d´Arlon 63-65 – B-1040 Bruxelles – Belgium – www.egec.org

8was possible to discuss policy issues and the RES
directive with the relevant EP rapporteur, Claude
Turmes.
The day of the Conference ended with a Site visit toSoultz-sous-forêt Plant (the European research
programme for heat and electrical power generationfrom a deep enhanced geothermal system); for more on
Soultz see: www.soultz.net
Daniel Fritsch of GEIE Soultz welcomes the
EGEC group

Impressions from the Soultz visit: Christian Boissavy (EGEC treasurer) and Jörg Baumgärtner of GEIE Soultz(left), Erwin Knapek (initiator of the Unterhaching geothermal CHP project and former mayor of Unrterhaching,centre), and the EGEC group beside the wellheads (right)

International RESTMAC ISLAND Conference: Renewable Energy Islands – New FutureMarkets, 28-29 May 2008, Tenerife (Canary Islands).
The Conference had as a main purpose to promote the “best practices of RES large-scale integration on
European islands”. In addition, rendering “Renewable Islands” a tourist destination is characterized as
one of the major goals to be met in the aftermaths of the meeting.
Furthermore, identifying innovative instruments for the financing of RES
projects on islands as well as promoting the 100% renewable objective infavourable island areas analyzed within a legal framework forrenewables, were at the top of the agenda discussed during those twodays.
An EGEC presentation was made on geothermal potential for islands witha special focus on desalination, agricultural applications and heating &cooling.

Ø GROUND REACH
The GROUND-REACH project “Reaching the Kyoto targets by meansof a wide introduction of ground coupled heat pumps (GCHP) in thebuilt environment”, is now entering in its 6 last months. You haveaccess to all our deliverables on www.groundreach.eu and you candownload the Brochure on GSHP, available in 14 languages !
The main Ground-Reach Workshop was organized , on 23 May 2008, in Zurich, Switzerland, in
conjunction with the 9th IEA Heat Pump Conference (see above). Around hundred international experts
attended this main Ground-Reach Workshop. Lively discussions with emphasis on ground source heatpump good practice made the workshop a success. All presentations given are available for download on
the Ground Reach project website.
A few more workshops in the Ground-Reach project are planned; please see www.groundreach.eu formore details. EGEC will organize on 13 November 2008 the Groundreach Workshop in Germany, incollaboration with GtV-BV. It will be linked to the GtV-BV conference in Karlsruhe (see Events section).
EGEC aisbl – Renewable Energy House – Rue d´Arlon 63-65 – B-1040 Bruxelles – Belgium – www.egec.org

9Ø GTRH
The “Geothermal Regulation for Heat” or GTR-H (www.gtrh.eu) project,funded under the Altener program of EACI, was initiated in November
2006.
Data compilation has been completed, reviewing of the status of the geothermal energy sector in thetarget countries Ireland, Hungary, Northern Ireland/UK and Poland, and the legislative instruments whichcurrently influence the sector in each of these countries.
Results of the first and second Workpackages of GTR-H confirm that the lack of regulation (and in somecases the lack of a specific geothermal regulation) or lack of clarity /inadequate regulation is seen as oneof the most significant barriers to the geothermal sector development, thus confirming the conclusions of
the Kistelek declaration and the requirement for regulation. Furthermore lack of clarity or inadequate
regulation is seen as restrictive as no regulation. The availability of resource data and in some cases thecost associated with data purchase has shown to be inhibiting investment and growth in the sector in theprivate sector.
Some of the main summary points of analysis of the results in each of the target countries are as follows:- Barrier categories can be classified into legislative, financial and regulation enforcement andenactment- Lack of clarity in existing regulation and inadequate regulation have been identified as the mostimportant barriers across the four target countries though often for different reasons- Financial barriers have been highlighted as being more significant in Hungary and Poland as opposed
to Ireland and N. Ireland / UK.
- The lack of proven geothermal resources or data on risk is perceived as a more important barrier
where no regulation is currently present and the sector is least developed.
- Identified barriers to geothermal energy development in each country are similar but legislative issues
vary from country to country.
Specific barriers identified in the four target countries need to be considered with reference to theircurrent legislative background, to identify best practice country solutions.
- Discussion of the investment case for geothermal energy exploration in areas with low enthalpy
resources, indicates the need for more information to prove up resources before the sector would
become attractive for private investment. It was also noted that the EU 20% targets for renewableenergy has generated a moderate investment and incentive climate.
- Ownership issues in relation to geothermal energy have been identified as a significant barrier togeothermal energy development.
- The definition of geothermal energy in any implemented regulation requires careful consideration ineach jurisdiction depending on the existing legislation.
- Issues in relation to exact licensing procedures, costs, national resource assessments as well as
certification and standards within the industry were also identified as necessary to the successful
development in all four target countries and will be included where relevant in the recommendations
for the framework as it develops.

Ø GROUNDHITGROUNDHIT
Ground Coupled Heat Pumps of High Technology

The GROUNDHIT project started in 2004 and aimed at developing and demonstrating the next
generation of ground source heat pumps. During the last four years, a coaxial borehole heat exchanger
prototype and three heat pump prototypes were developed and tested at three demonstration sites. Afterthe mid-term workshop in May 2006 in Brussels (organised by EGEC), which had marked the end of the
R&D and start of the demonstration phase, the final Workshop of GROUNDHIT project was held in
Berlin, Germany, on May 5, 2008 (organized by GtV-BV). This R&D-project Groundhit, coordinated by
CRES and supported by EU DG-TREN, comes to a successful end. The advanced ground source heatpumps and borehole heat exchangers have been demonstrated on sites in Austria, Greece and Portugal.
The presentations from both the 2006 and 2008 workshops are available for download from the Groundhit
website at www.groundhit.eu .
EGEC aisbl – Renewable Energy House – Rue d´Arlon 63-65 – B-1040 Bruxelles – Belgium – www.egec.org

10EVENTSØ The International Geological Congress, 6-14 August 2008, Oslo, Norway.
The Nordic Countries organize for the 33rd time the International Geological Congress where an
exhibition of geo-related industry, both from the public and private sector, will take place.
Apart from the exhibition part, a great number of Symposia are going to be held where Mineral
Sources, Ocean Sciences, Tectonics, Geo-Energy, Geomorphology will be some of the main topics tobe presented and discussed. Finally, during these two weeks, participants will be given theopportunity to go for excursions in the area around Oslo and get familiar with the Nordic landscape.
For more information and registration requirements: http://www.33igc.org/coco/Ø EGEC AGM & EGEC 10 years Anniversary, 5 September 2008, Brussels, Belgium.
With the occasion of EGEC Annual General Meeting, which will happen in the beginning of
September, EGEC Board has decided to celebrate EGEC 10 year’s anniversary.
An official festivity will take place gathering all the people that first launched the idea of creating the
Association in 1998 as well as many of those who do their best to promote the geothermal energy use
all around Europe.

Ø Italian Ground Reach promotion meeting, Firenze, 22/09/2008
GfE, as Italian partner involved in the Ground-Reach project, is organizing a national meeting in
Florence to promote this technology in the central-south part of Italy, to promote the project and theresults, as well as the economical/environmental benefits and all the other related technical aspects
about this excellent system. The meeting is scheduled to take place on 22 September 2008.
Venue: Grand Hotel Baglioni - Piazza Unità italiana, 6 Firenze (IT)Participation is free of charge and restricted to national project target groups.
Limited seats available.
Contact: Marco Spiccia
GfE energy management S.r.l.
Via Guglielmo Marconi, 55
50131 Firenze
Tel. 055 577 297, Fax 055 572 896, e-mail: marco.spiccia@gfe.biz

Ø Congress of Geothermal Energy in the Building & Industry sectors, 15-16 October
2008, Madrid, Spain
The Directorate General of Industry, Energy andMinerals- of the Council of Economy andConsumerism- in collaboration with the Energy Foundation for the Community of Madrid, organize aforum for discussion and further promotion of the Geothermal Energy.
The event aims at bringing together all kind of stakeholders, such as scientists and technicians ofinvestigation centers, Universities’ personnel, administration bodies as well as the industry sector tochare their experience and to talk about the new challenges and potential of geothermal energy in the
Building and Industry fields.
The benefits springing from the use of the geothermal energy, the several applications and thepromotion of that kind of renewable energy will be on the top of the agenda during those two days ofthe congress where the participants will have the opportunity to exchange views and arguments.
For those who are really interested in taking part a strict procedure of pre-subscription andsubscription has to be followed:
EGEC aisbl – Renewable Energy House – Rue d´Arlon 63-65 – B-1040 Bruxelles – Belgium – www.egec.org

11a) Send the Summaries.
b) Acceptation of the summaries by the Technical Committec) Send the final papersd) Acceptation of the final papers by the Technical CommitteSpecific criteria need to be taken into serious consideration while redacting the Paper.
For the registration requirements and for access to the congress Program; please see:
http://www.fenercom.com/geoener/

Ø Brokerage Event on Sustainable Development - GEO2 2008, Bilbao, 6 and 7
November 2008
GEO2, the Sustainable Development Fair (ex PROMA, theInternational Environment Exhibition) within the framework of
GEO2 2008 will organise a Brokerage Event on Sustainable
Development. The event will take place on 6 and 7 November 2008
in Bilbao Exhibition Centre (BEC).
Having as a priority to gather European companies, research institutes, universities andmunicipalities actively engaged within environment, renewable energy or any other sector related to
Sustainable Development the event will focus on the 3 pillars of sustainable development, namely
environment and energy, economy and society.
Participation:
1.
Register and submit a technology or business co-operation profile online underwww.geo2.innovationrelay.net
2.
Profiles are published in a constantly updated online Catalogue. A printed copy of the final
Catalogue will be handed out to the participants the day of the event.
3.
Companies consulting the online Catalogue, may select interesting profiles and request ameeting with the proposing company at any moment. Meeting requests must be confirmed by bothsides in order to be scheduled.
4.
Each participant will receive a personalised meeting agenda in due time before the event. The
duration of each one-to-one meeting will be 30 minutes. The working language is English.
Attention!
Registration and profiles submission deadline: 10 October 2008.
Deadline for requesting bilateral meetings is 17 October 2008.
For more information please browse through: www.geo2.innovationrelay.net
or contact SPRI – Basque Enterprise Europe
Arturo Antón / Javier Gabilondo
Tel: 94 4037038 / Tel: 94 4037034
e-mail: aanton@spri.es / e-mail: jagabilondo@spri.es
Ø Der Geothermiekongress 2008 : 11.-13.November 2008, Karlsruhe
http://www.dergeothermiekongress.de/
Geothermische Vereinigung - Bundesverband Geothermie e.V.
Bundesgeschäftsstelle, Gartenstr. 36, 49744 Geeste
Tel: +49 (0) 5907 545, Fax: +49 (0) 5907 7379
Email: info@geothermie.de

EGEC aisbl – Renewable Energy House – Rue d´Arlon 63-65 – B-1040 Bruxelles – Belgium – www.egec.org

12Ø French RES Policy Forum: SIREME, 17-19 November 2008, Paris, France.
An International Exhibition for Renewable Energy and Energy Management is about to be held inFrance in the middle of November 2008. The Forum will be the first trade exhibition, gathering
renewable energy development, energy management and regional sustainable development
stakeholders.
SIREME will give priority to 4 specific areas:ooooBuilding Energy Management and Renewable Energy
Land and Sustainable Development
Renewable Electricity andResearch and Training

with the aim to reach the binding target of 20% by 2020 and promote renewable energy supplies.
Information at: www.erec.org & www.sireme.fr

Ø COP 14 poznan
COP14 will take place from 1 – 12 December 2008 in Poznan, Poland(http://cop14.pl/en).

Ø EREC Policy Conference, 9-11. February 2009, Brussels, Belgium.
Information at: www.erec.org

EGEC aisbl – Renewable Energy House – Rue d´Arlon 63-65 – B-1040 Bruxelles – Belgium – www.egec.org

13