IGC Forum 2016 to connect you to Europe’s who is who at GeoTHERM, February 24-25, 2016

In southern Germany a small but consistent top-level conference draws attention to the players of the geothermal branch since years. It is the international focus that has brought the venue to a real insider meeting. The IGC Forum 2016 helps you to meet the “Who is Who“ of the European geothermal sector.

For now 11 years, the IGC International Geothermal Conference in Germany represents a solid event for international actors of the geothermal business. In its 12th year the new IGC Forum 2016 establishes a more condensed profile in the run-up of the GeoTHERM expo and congress 2016 at the Offenburg Fair Trade in southern Germany. The two-day event will be held from February 24 to 25, 2016 with a skillfully designed program and field trip. Five top-class panels on up-to-date topics will open discussion on relevant issues of current interest. The GeoTHERM expo will run from February 25 to 26, 2016.

IGC Forum 2016 starts in the afternoon of February 24, 2016 with two parallel panels. Within only a few years, Turkey has moved away from a slow paced geothermal development into a high prospective future investment. Panel I outlines the economic potential and opportunities for the “Geothermal Energy Market in Turkey”.

Panel II discusses the “New developments in drilling technology”. Current research projects on hard-rock drilling give a fascinating insight into a new technology to come. Speakers from well reputated institutes such as ETH Zuerich (Spallation drilling), Fraunhofer Institute (Laser Jet drilling) or University Dresden (Electro-Pulse drilling) talk about the latest testings in drilling phase. Panel language of the day is English. The social event of the IGC lounge in the evening, open to all participants, completes the first day and offers a scene for detailed briefings and a diverting get together.

The second day of the venue starts on February 25, 2016 with a field trip to the geothermal plant in Insheim (Upper Rhine valley) contemporaneous to the parallel morning panels. Panel III exhibits the most recent state of “International projects: New development and Lessons learnt”. Operation of international geothermal projects, such as Paris Basin (France), Hybrid Power Plants by Enel Green Power (Italy), or the Australian EGS project Habanero open their insider knowledge to the geothermal community. Developments from the international acting energy supplier Munich city utilities ‘Stadtwerke München’ and Illkirch France complete the talks of the morning panel III. Panel language is English.

Which tools and actions may be adequate for a modern public acceptance campaign are introduced in panel IV “Dialog und Maßnahmen zur Akzeptanzförderung (Stakeholder engagement, involvement and acceptance)”.Panel language is German. Excellent speakers give insight on how to improve relation and involve the general public in geothermal projects. Independent seismic monitoring as a tool for public acceptance (HLUG), public dialogue strategies with different stakeholder groups (Stiftung Risiko-Dialog), fully transparent dialogue campaigns during ongoing project development (Stadtwerke St. Gallen) or design as an important issue for public identification (84GHz) present high-class topics on the current public stakeholder management. A panel discussion on geothermal presence in media, led by the widely recognized daily newspaper ‘Die Welt’ will round-up the high interesting morning panel IV. Panel language is German.

The venue closes with the afternoon Panel V that presents the latest strategies and structures in “Exploration of geothermal reservoirs”. Reservoir development by slime hole drilling (EnBW), the current status of the projects Wiesbaden (GMT Consult) or Illkirch by the French energy supplier Électricité de Strasbourg, and a trip into the good, the bad and the ugly reservoir will bring up new ideas of exploration strategies. Panel language is English.

IGC Forum has become one of the most important events regarding commercializing deep geothermal energy throughout Europe. Since years the meeting generates wide attention as it merges firsthand information from practice with economy, theory and public. The venue creates an innovative benefit to all participants, as it concentrates all networking opportunities in one place: panels, socials, fair trade. Early bird registration until January 29, 2016 receives a 10 percent discount. More information under http://www.geothermiekonferenz.de.

IGC Forum participants receive free entry to the directly connected and Europe’s most popular fair trade GeoTHERM, lasting from February 25 to 26, 2016 (http://www.geotherm-offenburg.de/).