Despite great leap forward for geothermal, things can be done faster
In its reply to a position paper shared by the Dutch Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate, Platform Geothermie is positive about its general direction yet points that more needs to be done to speed up geothermal development in the Netherlands.
Platform Geothermie in the Netherlands has responded to a letter shared by the Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate shared in May of this year to the Parliament, we reported.
The geothermal platform is positive that Minister Wiebes sees geothermal energy as part of the energy transition. The ambition can be achieved more smoothly if strong efforts are made to take the necessary measures by the sector and the government.
The key points of the full response are:
- We see it as very positive and endorse the need to accelerate the sector: the further development of geothermal energy in greenhouse horticulture and the application in the built environment.
- Only with the actual use of acceleration can it be possible for the sector to get closer to the ambitions of the sector than the conservative estimate of 15 PJ of the State.
- We find the minister’s estimate that geothermal energy in the built environment will only start well in 2030.
- Good actions were taken on: SCAN (mapping the subsurface), knowledge and innovation programs with KIRA and MMIPs, SDE (extension of categories), support for the RCSG test center in Rijswijk, risk-bearing participation of EBN.
- Cooperation between parties in the geothermal sector and governments is of the utmost importance to achieve success. It is important to keep focusing on these actions to ensure they get the attention they deserve. See as an example the position paper SDE ++ of the geothermal sector.
- We experience a constructive attitude from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate when it comes to industry standards and the development of guidelines, with room for innovation and market developments.
- We see it as essential and positive that talks (continue to) take place between operators and advisors from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate about their share in accelerating the processing of permit applications. The processing of applications is now an (unnecessarily) long-term process and needs to be accelerated further.
- The importance of a role for local and regional authorities in the formal advisory process of the permit procedures is great. That is why the Heat Act 2 must pay attention to the link between the source, the heat network and the customer in order to accelerate developments.
Source: Platform Geothermie