| Title | European Geothermal heating and cooling technology Roadmap: status and implementation |
|---|---|
| Authors | Dumas, P; Sanner, B; Urchueguía, J F |
| Year | 2016 |
| Conference | European Geothermal Congress |
| Keywords | geothermal, heating, cooling, research, innovation, roadmap |
| Abstract | Among the technological challenges for an accelerated deployment of geothermal heating & cooling and electricity across Europe, new and innovative solutions in different areas are needed. Firstly, it is especially important to develop solutions for refurbishing existing buildings, but also for zero and plus energy buildings, whereby systems need to be easier to install and more efficient at low temperature for both heating & cooling. Secondly, to develop geothermal District Heating (DH) systems in dense urban areas and other direct uses, as for agro-industry, at low temperature is identified as a key issue amongst our sector. The objective is to contribute to the decarbonisation of DH and industry by providing competitive solutions for heating & cooling. Finally, a third important goal is to contribute to the decarbonisation of electricity by ensuring security of supply, affordability and flexibility in the grid. One objective is to keep the European industrial competitiveness in this sector: With 1.2 million units of GSHP installed, Europe is the world leader in the shallow geothermal market and also a forerunner in innovation in areas such as underground thermal energy storage (UTES). Main competitors are heat pump manufacturers in China and the USA. With more than 200 geothermal DH systems in operation, Europe is also the global leader for geoDH. Global competition exists mainly for heat exchangers and pipes. Also direct uses of geothermal started in Europe, although China is now leading the market due to the large demand there. EGS plants are only in operation in Europe up to now. Projects are ongoing in the USA and Australia. A next generation of geothermal technologies are needed to remain number one: - GSHP for retrofit buildings - Smart thermal grids with geoDH - UTES with high temperature storage - EGS for cogeneration and high temperature process heat The European Geothermal Technology Roadmap 2013-2020, a result of the common effort of many stakeholders in our sector coordinated within the Geothermal Panel, presented a concept for developing these research projects. The first RD&I geothermal projects following its implementation started in 2014. Our paper will present the roadmap and the status of the implementation with a monitoring of the first project results. |