| Title | Geothermal Energy Use, Country Update for France |
|---|---|
| Authors | Boissavy, C; Rocher, P; Laplaige, P; Brange, C |
| Year | 2016 |
| Conference | European Geothermal Congress |
| Keywords | Electricity generation, EGS, heating and cooling production, R&D, jobs, target 2030 PPE |
| Abstract | The last market study (2016) carried out in France by the French Association of Geothermal Professionals regarding the geothermal domain has demonstrated that the installed power for heating and cooling reaches 2500 MWth. One third is related to the exploitation of the deep Dogger reservoir in the Paris area but the main part is linked to the recent and strong development of shallow geothermal resources in the whole country. The market for single housing using vertical geothermal probes is dramatically decreasing since 2009 due to the economic crisis and tax credit at 30% for geothermal without any bonus compared with efficient gas boiler neither air-air heat pumps. The market for single housing has been divided by 7 in between 2010 and 2016 from more than 20 000 installations to less than 3000. On the contrary, the number of installations to feed collective housing and residential blocks including offices buildings is growing constantly. The direct uses are concentrated mainly in Ile de France, the doublet construction restarted with the support of the Heat funds managed by ADEME and the two last years, more than 20 new deep wells have been drilled in Ile de France. The main barrier remains administrative constraints and delays to get the permission for drilling in one hand and the calculation rules for new buildings (RT2012) which still encourage gas and electricity in the other. In 2023, the market will reach 3000 MWth installed; if ecologically driven, the target objectives at 3500 could be largely attained. For electricity generation no more installations have been commissioned even the Soultz-sous Forêts plant has been revamped. The Bouillante plant has been sold by BRGM to ORMAT mid 2016 and the plant capacity will be upgraded from 15 to 45 MWe in the next years. |