German Geothermal Association and Industry Forum merge
Booth of the Wirtschaftsforum Geothermie at the GeoTHERM 2015 in Offenburg, Germany (source: ThinkGeoEnergy)
Alexander Richter
12 Mar 2015
While having cooperated now for years, the German Geothermal Association and the German Geothermal Industry Forum have now reached a merger agreement at a recent vote of members of both associations.
Announced last week, the Bundesverband Geothermie (Geothermal Association of Germany) and the Wirtschaftsforum Geothermie WFG (Industry Group) have decided to restructure as one Association representing the geothermal energy sector in Germany.
At Europe’s largest geothermal industry expo GeoTHERM, the members of both associations voted overwhelmingly for a merger. While having closely cooperated for the past two years, the administrative merger now is a natural step.
From 2016, the Geothermal Association of Germany (Bundesverband Geothermie e.V.) “will be the contact point for representatives from the political spectrum, the general public and companies”, so Erwin Knapek, since 2006 the chairman of the Industry Group and since 2013 President of the Geothermal Association.
All members of the Industry group will become members of the Geothermal Association, and the Industry group will then formally dissolve.
As part of the merger, the future responsibilities for the two offices will be divided. The office in Augsburg will be in charge of PR and informational work, as well as contacts for the local government, while the focus in the office in Berlin will be on political work, the administration of the association, geothermal knowledge work and the organisation of events.
Source: Press Release by both organisations.
