Political will remains largest restraint for European geothermal growth
Sanjeev Kumar, EGEC - video screenshot
Alexander Richter
13 Oct 2021
In a recent interview, Sanjeev Kumar, Head of Policy at the European Geothermal Energy Council points to the much needed political will to drive geothermal growth yet also the large untapped potential.
In a recently released interview with Euractiv, Sanjeev Kumar, Head of Policy at the European Geothermal Energy Council spoke about the potential fo geothermal as reliable and renewable energy source for Europe.
Addressing the luring European energy crisis, the role of geothermal, challenges, drilling and more, he draws a picture of an industry that has a lot to offer, yet does not get the attention it deserves.
With increasing energy prices in Europe, geothermal energy receives increasing attention particularly in the potential role as baseload source of energy, as well as an increasingly positive price comparison to traditional sources of energy, such as natural gas. As example, he mentions the development where geothermal is now seen as much more competitive with a levelized cost of geothermal of EUR 15 per MWh, while conventional fossil gas now stands at around EUR 51/ MWh.
The European Fit for 55 package also highlights the huge challenge of the energy transition for the heating and cooling sector and the importance of looking at geothermal as a real option.
Tackling the question of how drilling technology has evolved in the context of making geothermal accessible, he describes the need for stronger/ faster drilling, yet also the energy output per well.
Of course the topic of how geothermal can grow, he mentions business model innovation that is needed, the extraction of lithium, new corporate pressure of sourcing green baseload carbon-free power.
A big challenge he describes is the need for policymakers to tackle heat purchase agreements. While power purchase agreements provided the basis to a lot of the wind and solar development for power, heat purchase agreements remain rate.
The interview goes then further into drilling, the role of oil and gas companies, closed-loop systems, geothermal anywhere, seismic risks, communication and regulations/ political will.
Source: Euractiv
