BETA


2023/2111(INI) Geothermal energy

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead ITRE KRASNODĘBSKI Zdzisław (icon: ECR ECR) WEISS Pernille (icon: EPP EPP), FUGLSANG Niels (icon: S&D S&D), PETERSEN Morten (icon: Renew Renew), NIINISTÖ Ville (icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE), BORCHIA Paolo (icon: ID ID), MESURE Marina (icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL)
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 54

Events

2024/01/18
   EP - Text adopted by Parliament, single reading
Documents
2024/01/18
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Documents
2024/01/17
   EP - Debate in Parliament
2023/12/12
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Details

The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy adopted the own-initiative report by Zdzisław KRASNODĘBSKI (ECR, PL) on geothermal energy.

Development and potential

Firstly, the report noted that the development of technologies has broadened the area suitable for cost-efficient geothermal projects and their scope. Geothermal energy still often plays a peripheral role in the discussion on renewable energy. However, Members stated that geothermal installations do not require critical raw materials to the same extent as other renewables. Moreover, geothermal has low environmental impact and typically requires limited land use and can easily be integrated into the landscape.

The report underlined the potential of geothermal energy to make a substantial contribution to attaining key strategic objectives within the EU, including reaching climate targets by decarbonising different industrial sectors, bolstering the EU’s open strategic autonomy by strengthening energy security needs, eliminating fossil-fuel dependencies on unreliable third countries, such as Russia, increasing the competitiveness of European industries and empowering consumers thanks to an affordable and reliable supply of heat and electricity.

The report stressed that the greatest potential of geothermal energy use in the EU lies in district heating and cooling systems and networks of shallow geothermal installations. Geothermal can help to decarbonising heating and cooling sector that accounts for almost half of the EU’s overall final energy consumption and contributes up to 35 % of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions related to energy use.

Policy recommendations

The Commission is called on to:

- present an EU geothermal strategy giving concrete guidance to Member States and local administrations to accelerate the deployment of geothermal energy in order to decarbonise heating and contribute to the EU’s energy independence and to meet the objective of at least tripling the share of energy demand covered by solar heat and geothermal energy by 2030 as announced in the EU Solar Strategy;

- base the strategy on a comprehensive assessment of the potential of geothermal energy in the shallow, medium, deep, and ultra-deep subsurface across all 27 Member States;

- address in the strategy the obstacles for the development of geothermal projects, including cross-borders issues and to provide a guide on best practices in geothermal energy use in the EU for national and local authorities, project developers, and financial institutions;

- establish a ‘geothermal alliance’, including Member States, geothermal adoption enablers, industry, the scientific community and civil society that would facilitate the exchange of best practices and to implement the future geothermal strategy;

- explore the potential of geothermal energy to contribute to objectives production of clean hydrogen established in the REPowerEU plan.

Geothermal district heating and cooling

Underlining the need to modernise existing heating and cooling networks and build new ones using the potential of geothermal energy, the Commission and the Member States are called on to create strong incentives to support the above and to favour 4th and 5th generation heating and cooling systems.

Funding

Members stressed that high upfront costs are stunting the growth of geothermal energy, particularly for actors with limited financial resources, making them to favour investments that are more profitable in the short term, but offer lower environmental sustainability. Therefore, they called on the Commission to take appropriate steps to ensure that geothermal projects are better taken into account when using existing European funds and instruments.

Regulatory issues

Faster permitting rules for geothermal, in compliance with existing EU environmental legislation, would facilitate the deployment of geothermal energy projects across the EU. Geothermal projects encounter lengthy permitting processes and Member States are urged to create more efficient streamlined and digitalised permitting processes for new geothermal projects and for the expansion of existing facilities, including by creating a one-stop shop for the whole permitting process across authorities and to provide support for local authorities to ensure their workforce is adequately skilled.

Technology development

While stressing that the EU is the leader in geothermal research and development, high-value patents, publications and manufacturing, Members stated that support measures for next-generation geothermal technologies are needed at European and national level in order to maintain this position, particularly in geothermal storage and industrial applications.

The report noted that investment in research and development (R&D) in the geothermal energy field has received considerably less funding than other sectors, with only two projects on geothermal energy being supported so far by the Innovation Fund.

Visibility and public acceptance

According to the report, public acceptance remains a challenge for geothermal projects, particularly on the basis of environmental concerns such as the possible interference with ground water, non-condensable gas emissions, over-exploitation of water resources, and seismic activity. Members called on the Commission, in cooperation with the geothermal industry and Member States, to develop guidelines and best practices for cooperation between project promoters and local authorities and communities in order to build trust, foster support and create mutually beneficial relationships.

Documents
2023/12/07
   EP - Vote in committee
2023/10/18
   EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2023/09/25
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2023/09/02
   EP - KRASNODĘBSKI Zdzisław (ECR) appointed as rapporteur in ITRE
2023/07/12
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament

Documents

Activities

Votes

A9-0432/2023 – Zdzisław Krasnodębski – Motion for a resolution #

2024/01/18 Outcome: +: 531, 0: 20, -: 2
FR DE ES IT PL RO NL CZ SE BE PT AT DK HU IE FI HR SK EL BG SI EE LT LU CY LV MT
Total
66
69
51
52
45
21
21
20
20
17
20
15
14
13
13
11
11
12
14
9
8
7
8
6
4
3
3
icon: PPE PPE
129

Austria PPE

3

Denmark PPE

For (1)

1

Finland PPE

2
3

Estonia PPE

For (1)

1

Luxembourg PPE

2

Latvia PPE

For (1)

1

Malta PPE

For (1)

1
icon: S&D S&D
109

Netherlands S&D

3

Czechia S&D

For (1)

1

Belgium S&D

2

Hungary S&D

For (1)

1

Finland S&D

1

Slovakia S&D

For (1)

1

Greece S&D

1

Bulgaria S&D

For (1)

1

Slovenia S&D

2

Estonia S&D

2

Lithuania S&D

1

Luxembourg S&D

For (1)

1

Cyprus S&D

2

Malta S&D

2
icon: Renew Renew
88

Italy Renew

2

Poland Renew

1
3

Austria Renew

For (1)

1

Hungary Renew

2

Ireland Renew

2

Finland Renew

3

Croatia Renew

For (1)

1

Greece Renew

1

Slovenia Renew

2

Estonia Renew

3

Lithuania Renew

1

Luxembourg Renew

2

Latvia Renew

For (1)

1
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
60

Spain Verts/ALE

3

Italy Verts/ALE

3

Netherlands Verts/ALE

3

Czechia Verts/ALE

3

Sweden Verts/ALE

3

Belgium Verts/ALE

2

Portugal Verts/ALE

1

Austria Verts/ALE

3

Denmark Verts/ALE

2

Ireland Verts/ALE

2

Finland Verts/ALE

3

Lithuania Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1
icon: ECR ECR
50

Sweden ECR

For (1)

3

Belgium ECR

2

Finland ECR

1

Croatia ECR

1

Slovakia ECR

For (1)

1

Greece ECR

1

Bulgaria ECR

2
icon: ID ID
47

Czechia ID

For (1)

1
3

Denmark ID

For (1)

1

Estonia ID

For (1)

1
icon: NI NI
41

Czechia NI

For (1)

1

Belgium NI

For (1)

1

Lithuania NI

Abstain (1)

1

Latvia NI

1
icon: The Left The Left
29

Germany The Left

3

Netherlands The Left

Abstain (1)

1

Czechia The Left

1

Sweden The Left

For (1)

1

Belgium The Left

Abstain (1)

1

Denmark The Left

1

Finland The Left

For (1)

1

Greece The Left

1

Cyprus The Left

2
AmendmentsDossier
302 2023/2111(INI)
2023/10/18 ITRE 302 amendments...
source: 754.723

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

docs/2
date
2024-01-18T00:00:00
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2024-0049_EN.html title: T9-0049/2024
type
Text adopted by Parliament, single reading
body
EP
docs/2
date
2023-12-12T00:00:00
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-9-2023-0432_EN.html title: A9-0432/2023
type
Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
body
EP
events/2/summary
  • The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy adopted the own-initiative report by Zdzisław KRASNODĘBSKI (ECR, PL) on geothermal energy.
  • Development and potential
  • Firstly, the report noted that the development of technologies has broadened the area suitable for cost-efficient geothermal projects and their scope. Geothermal energy still often plays a peripheral role in the discussion on renewable energy. However, Members stated that geothermal installations do not require critical raw materials to the same extent as other renewables. Moreover, geothermal has low environmental impact and typically requires limited land use and can easily be integrated into the landscape.
  • The report underlined the potential of geothermal energy to make a substantial contribution to attaining key strategic objectives within the EU, including reaching climate targets by decarbonising different industrial sectors, bolstering the EU’s open strategic autonomy by strengthening energy security needs, eliminating fossil-fuel dependencies on unreliable third countries, such as Russia, increasing the competitiveness of European industries and empowering consumers thanks to an affordable and reliable supply of heat and electricity.
  • The report stressed that the greatest potential of geothermal energy use in the EU lies in district heating and cooling systems and networks of shallow geothermal installations. Geothermal can help to decarbonising heating and cooling sector that accounts for almost half of the EU’s overall final energy consumption and contributes up to 35 % of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions related to energy use.
  • Policy recommendations
  • The Commission is called on to:
  • - present an EU geothermal strategy giving concrete guidance to Member States and local administrations to accelerate the deployment of geothermal energy in order to decarbonise heating and contribute to the EU’s energy independence and to meet the objective of at least tripling the share of energy demand covered by solar heat and geothermal energy by 2030 as announced in the EU Solar Strategy;
  • - base the strategy on a comprehensive assessment of the potential of geothermal energy in the shallow, medium, deep, and ultra-deep subsurface across all 27 Member States;
  • - address in the strategy the obstacles for the development of geothermal projects, including cross-borders issues and to provide a guide on best practices in geothermal energy use in the EU for national and local authorities, project developers, and financial institutions;
  • - establish a ‘geothermal alliance’, including Member States, geothermal adoption enablers, industry, the scientific community and civil society that would facilitate the exchange of best practices and to implement the future geothermal strategy;
  • - explore the potential of geothermal energy to contribute to objectives production of clean hydrogen established in the REPowerEU plan.
  • Geothermal district heating and cooling
  • Underlining the need to modernise existing heating and cooling networks and build new ones using the potential of geothermal energy, the Commission and the Member States are called on to create strong incentives to support the above and to favour 4th and 5th generation heating and cooling systems.
  • Funding
  • Members stressed that high upfront costs are stunting the growth of geothermal energy, particularly for actors with limited financial resources, making them to favour investments that are more profitable in the short term, but offer lower environmental sustainability. Therefore, they called on the Commission to take appropriate steps to ensure that geothermal projects are better taken into account when using existing European funds and instruments.
  • Regulatory issues
  • Faster permitting rules for geothermal, in compliance with existing EU environmental legislation, would facilitate the deployment of geothermal energy projects across the EU. Geothermal projects encounter lengthy permitting processes and Member States are urged to create more efficient streamlined and digitalised permitting processes for new geothermal projects and for the expansion of existing facilities, including by creating a one-stop shop for the whole permitting process across authorities and to provide support for local authorities to ensure their workforce is adequately skilled.
  • Technology development
  • While stressing that the EU is the leader in geothermal research and development, high-value patents, publications and manufacturing, Members stated that support measures for next-generation geothermal technologies are needed at European and national level in order to maintain this position, particularly in geothermal storage and industrial applications.
  • The report noted that investment in research and development (R&D) in the geothermal energy field has received considerably less funding than other sectors, with only two projects on geothermal energy being supported so far by the Innovation Fund.
  • Visibility and public acceptance
  • According to the report, public acceptance remains a challenge for geothermal projects, particularly on the basis of environmental concerns such as the possible interference with ground water, non-condensable gas emissions, over-exploitation of water resources, and seismic activity. Members called on the Commission, in cooperation with the geothermal industry and Member States, to develop guidelines and best practices for cooperation between project promoters and local authorities and communities in order to build trust, foster support and create mutually beneficial relationships.
events/3
date
2024-01-17T00:00:00
type
Debate in Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CRE-9-2024-01-17-TOC_EN.html title: Debate in Parliament
events/4
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2024-01-18T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
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url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2024-0049_EN.html title: T9-0049/2024
forecasts
  • date: 2024-01-15T00:00:00 title: Indicative plenary sitting date
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Old
Awaiting Parliament's vote
New
Procedure completed
docs/2
date
2023-12-12T00:00:00
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-9-2023-0432_EN.html title: A9-0432/2023
type
Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
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  • url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-9-2023-0432_EN.html title: A9-0432/2023
events/2
date
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type
Committee report tabled for plenary
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  • body: EC dg: Research and Innovation commissioner: IVANOVA Iliana
events/1
date
2023-12-07T00:00:00
type
Vote in committee
body
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procedure/Other legal basis
Rules of Procedure EP 159
docs/1
date
2023-10-18T00:00:00
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/ITRE-AM-754723_EN.html title: PE754.723
type
Amendments tabled in committee
body
EP
docs
  • date: 2023-09-25T00:00:00 docs: url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/ITRE-PR-752863_EN.html title: PE752.863 type: Committee draft report body: EP
committees/0/shadows/4
name
BORCHIA Paolo
group
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abbr
ID
forecasts
  • date: 2024-01-15T00:00:00 title: Indicative plenary sitting date
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Responsible Committee
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