Richard Bruton TD, Minister for Communications, Climate Action & Environment (DCCAE), welcomed the GEO-ENERGY EUROPE consortium to Dublin at a reception in Iveagh House, St Stephen’s Green on the 21 January, 2019. The GEO-ENERGY EUROPE project commenced in 2018 after a successful application to the European Commission’s ‘Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises’(COSME).

The objective of the GEO-ENERGY EUROPE project is to build links between Irish and other European geothermal energy experts and to assist European Small and Medium-sized (SME) companies in exporting services to established and emerging markets. The project consortium comprises eight cluster organisations from France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Turkey and Ireland. Ireland is represented by Geoscience Ireland (GI), a business cluster based in Geological Survey Ireland (GSI), a division of DCCAE. The objective of the GEO-ENERGY EUROPE project aligns with the ambition of GI which is to assist its 37 Member Companies in exporting design and contracting services to extractive industries and infrastructure development in overseas markets.

The project is a great opportunity for Irish geoscience companies to build expertise in collaboration with other European partners in geothermal energy development. Commenting at the reception, Minister Bruton stated that; “harnessing geothermal energy development will assist in delivering on Sustainable Development Goals globally.”

The GEO-ENERGY Workshop in Dublin was organised by GI and hosted by GSI and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The GEO-ENERGY EUROPE workshop included contributions from the Trade and Science Attachés from the Embassies of France, Turkey, Spain, Belgium and Hungary; this roundtable discussion was facilitated by Anne Marie Flynn of DFAT.

The recent growth of support for public district heating schemes in Irish cities (e.g., Dublin City and South Dublin County Councils funded by DCCAE under Climate Action Fund 2018) provides an opportunity for geothermal heat to form part of the renewable energy mix and help to decarbonise our heat energy sector.

24th January 2019