Europe has abundant, clean, 24/7 energy beneath its feet. We are working to help policymakers unlock this potential.
Last week, FCA was invited to the Council of the European Union to share our analysis of next-generation geothermal energy.
Why this matters: The Council is where ministers from the EU’s 27 Member States coordinate policies. The Council’s Analysis and Research Team (ART) brings evidence and new thinking into that policymaking environment.
- The opportunity is vast. Enhanced geothermal systems could unlock a technical potential of nearly 40 TW in Europe. This is ≈35 times the EU’s entire installed electricity-generation capacity today.
- Geothermal can provide clean heat, further reducing Europe’s use of and dependence on imported fossil fuels.
- It can also complement wind and solar, providing clean electricity 24/7, regardless of the weather, and with flexibility to meet needs of the grid.
- Europe already has much expertise, including oil and gas sector know-how and strong manufacturing in surface equipment.
- The rapid build-up of data centers is an investment opportunity for geothermal.
- The opportunity is global. Geothermal today provides just 0.3% of global electricity and 1% of global heat. European investment and innovation could help next-generation geothermal scale globally while driving down costs.
What can policymakers do?
→ De-risk early drilling.
→ Improve access to subsurface data.
→ Invest in advanced drilling technologies.
→ Accelerate permitting.
→ Help existing industrial expertise move into geothermal.
This was our second invitation to an ART Talk at the Council We are grateful for the opportunity to bring evidence on overlooked cleantech directly into the rooms where Europe’s policy choices are shaped.
Europe has abundant clean energy beneath its feet. Now is the time to unlock it.
