Iceland to lead EU geothermal research programs with $2.6m grant
EU flags, Brussels/ Belgium (source: flickr/ Ingvar_Sverrisson, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
8 May 2012
Icelandic National Energy Authority in cooperation with GEORG will lead an EU geothermal research program across eight countries with a total grant provided of $2.6 million as part of the Geothermal ERA-NET grant program by the European Commission.
Reported by the Icelandic National Energy Authority, the European Union has granted EUR2 million for a geothermal research program, called Geothermal ERA-NET.
The funding is given to the National Energy Authority and Rannís in Iceland and eight European Energy Agencies. The Icelandic Energy Authority will be the project manager and receive EUR 600,000 ($780,000) of the funding.”
In cooperation with GEORG (Geothermal research group) and Rannis, NEA applied for the GEOTHERMAL ERA-NET grant from the European Commission last winter. Behind the application, are in addition to NEA and Rannis eight institutions from the following eight countries in Europe: The Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Turkey and Slovakia. When choosing the countries for the cooperation, the main focus was on objectives regarding the use of geothermal and how their plans would go hand in hand with the goal of the European Union to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide.
The GEOTHERMAL ERA-NET cooperation will last for four years and it is anticipated that the project will eventually support geothermal research in Europe. That could lead to greater cooperation between energy agencies and ministries in Europe and make it possible for them to work on common goals. One of the objectives of GEOTHERMAL ERA NET is to create a European Geothermal Database.
GEOTHERMAL ERA-NET is different from other conventional research projects since in this case the grant is for cooperation and coordination of the research plan of the countries involved but not for direct research. The GEOTHERMAL ERA-NET is the first step towards a coordinated research in the EU through the so-called SET-plan (European Strategic EnergyTechnology Plan).
